Greece U21 ready for European Championship playoff draw
Having finished in second place of Group 1, Greece U21 will play either Austria, Poland or Portugal in the playoffs to reach the 2019 UEFA European Championship. AGONAsport investigates.
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Drawn in Group 1 of the qualifying process with Croatia, Belarus, Moldova, San Marino and the Czech Republic, the young Greeks impressed for the most part, picking up a large haul of 25 points. However, a crucial loss to the Croats in the penultimate fixture knocked Greece down to second spot on head-to-head record and the team now enters the playoffs as one of the four best group runners-up.
On Friday, a draw will take place in Nyon to decide the pairings for the 2019 UEFA U21 European Championship qualifying playoffs. Greece can play either Austria, Poland or Portugal, with the two legs (home and away) scheduled to be held between November 12-20.
AUSTRIA
The Austrians were placed in a tricky group with Serbia, Russia, Armenia, FYROM and Gibraltar, but they defeated the Russians 3:2 in their final match to take second place with 22 points. Serbia topped Group 7 with a four-point advantage over their closest challengers.
POLAND
Poland were in one of the weaker qualifying groups, seeing off the challenge of Georgia, Finland, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands to finish in second place behind Group 3 winners Denmark. The Poles would have claimed top spot, but in a shock result, they somehow contrived to draw 1:1 against the Faroe Islands at home in September.
PORTUGAL
In Group 8, Portugal surprisingly failed to qualify directly for the 2019 UEFA U21 European Championship, dropping two defeats to lose out to undefeated Romania. The Portuguese were the group’s top scorers with a combined 33 goals against Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wales, Switzerland and Lichtenstein, however they conceded 11 at the other end.
