Youngest Greek team since 2012 performs admirably
Greece took a major step forward with a well-deserved victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina in UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying this week, with the average age of the team being the lowest in seven years.
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On Tuesday, the average age of the national team’s starting line-up was 25 years and 27 days, the lowest since November 14, 2012 when Greece played in a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland. The average age of that team to face the Irish was 24 years, eight months and 14 days.
Here is a full list of the ages of the players included in the starting line-up to play Bosnia at the Olympic Stadium:
Alexandros Paschalakis - 30
Dimitris Giannoulis - 23*
Pantelis Hatzidiakos - 22
Konstantinos Stafylidis - 25
Michalis Bakakis - 28
Kostas Galanopoulos - 21
Dimitris Kourbelis - 25
Petros Mantalos - 28
Tasos Bakasetas - 26
Dimitris Limnios - 21
Vangelis Pavlidis - 20
*Giannoulis turned 24 years of age today on October 17
The energetic, enthusiastic and passionate display against the Bosnians was even more impressive than the result itself. Showing exciting, entertaining football, the Greeks applied overwhelming pressure on Bosnia throughout the 90 minutes and deservedly broke through in the 88th minute with Adnan Kovacevic sending the ball into his own net. Vangelis Pavlidis, 20, has scored the Greek goal in the first half. Fellow young guns Dimitris Limnios, Kostas Galanopoulos and Pantelis Hatzidiakos exceeded all expectations with their great performances.
Interestingly, this was also the first time since October 8, 2015 when Greece began a match without a single Olympiacos player in the starting line-up. Olympiacos attacker Giorgos Masouras joined the action as a second-half substitute and offered plenty of energy and endeavour, even if he did miss a plethora of golden opportunities.
