Greece Women qualifying dream still alive after draw with Irish
The Greek women’s national team kept their hopes for a spot at UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 alive after a dramatic equalizer against Ireland on Tuesday. Anastasia Spyridonidou’s 93rd minute strike gave the hosts a share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw with a strong Irish side.
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The draw ensures that Greece still have a chance to finish second in the group, which currently sees Germany on top of the section with a maximum of twelve points from four matches while Ireland are next with seven points from three games followed by Greece with four points from three matches. Montenegro and Ukraine who round out the group are both without points.
Ireland were the stronger side in the opening stages as Vera Pauw’s side seized the early initiative and opened the scoring after only thirteen minutes when a splendid lob by Amber Bennett gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Playing at the Nea Smyrni Stadium, the Greek women rebounded from that difficult start to fashion a couple of chances of their own and nearly equalized before halftime only for Christina Kokoviadou’s attempt to be well-saved by Irish goalkeeper Marie Hourihan.
Ireland were perhaps unlucky not to have added to their lead after the break but resilient defending by Antonis Prionas’ team alongside some quality goalkeeping by Anthi Papakonstantinou kept the visitors at bay.
That set the scene for late drama as Athanasia Moraitou gave way for substitute Spyridonidou in the 83rd minute. Ten minutes later and deep into injury-time, Spyridonidou superbly half-volleyed home amidst jubilant scenes on the Greek bench.
While Greek hopes for a spot at the Euros remain alive, the Ethniki must now go to Ireland next March and win there in order to have a shot at EURO 2021. For now, the team can bask in a job well done and be proud of their improvement during this qualifying cycle.
