Greece defeated England 2-1 on Thursday in a Nations League match overshadowed by the death of Greek midfielder George Baldock the night before, while Belgium held Italy to a tie. Vangelis Pavlidis scored the game’s winning goal in the 94th minute. After a late goal by Jude Bellingham, Greek attacker Pavlidis scored twice to put Greece atop Group B2.
“Thanks to George, it was a really memorable day for us. It’s a wonderful occasion because of him and the fact that we are humans,” Pavlidis said to ITV.
George was a member of the team, thus it was a challenging time for us. unique man. It doesn’t matter how we win today—we have to play for him. We sacrificed everything for him.”
In the 49th minute, Pavlidis glided through a shaky England box defense and hammered the ball past Jordan Pickford to give the Greeks a well-earned lead.
But England failed to eliminate the threat in their area, and Pavlidis took full advantage to slam in a late winner, denying Greece a third victory in three Nations League games.
Italy and Belgium drew 2-2 in an exciting Group A2 match in Rome.
Within 60 seconds, Andrea Cambiaso scored his first goal for his country by bringing the ball home from close range, giving the Italians a quick lead.
After a spilled save, Mateo Retegui doubled the hosts’ advantage in minute 24 by sweeping home with his left foot.
Pellegrini sees red
On minute sixty-one, Leandro Trossard of Arsenal completed the Belgian comeback.
“Your football play and strategy don’t always determine the outcome. After a fantastic first half, there’s no doubt that we could have performed better in the second.
Matteo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola gave the visitors two more goals as the time was running down.
Norway defeated Slovenia 3-0 in Oslo behind a brace from Erling Haaland, moving them up to the top of Group B3, three points clear of Austria after their 4-0 victory against Kazakhstan.
Republic of Ireland, third in Group B2 behind England, overcame a 2-1 deficit to defeat Finland in Helsinki.
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