Greek U21 Hopes Damaged By Albania

A 1-1 draw played out by Greece and Albania’s U21s sides at the Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium in Elbasan, Albania, dealt crushing blows to the hopes both nations had of qualifying for next year’s European Championships. Panathinaikos midfielder Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (pictured) gave Nikos Nioplias’ Greek outfit the lead after 26 minutes, but a Xhevahir Sukaj header in the 65th minute has left Greece’s qualification hopes hanging by a thread. The draw was not enough to keep alive Albania’s slim qualification hopes, whilst the Greeks now find themselves five points behind Croatia with only two matches remaining. The Croatians will play both of their remaining matches at home against Albania and group leaders Italy, whilst Greece must travel to Italy before concluding their campaign at home against the Faroe Islands. Christodoulopoulos’ individual effort gave the Greeks the lead during the first half but Sukaj headed home a Lika free-kick on 65’ minutes to deal a crushing blow to Greece’s qualification hopes. Albania 1 (Sukaj 65’)Greece 1 (Christodoulopoulos 26’) Line-ups: Albania: Koliki, Arabi, Zekiri (Fana 87’), Likmeta, Ramazani, Malidi (Filipi 55’), Shoshi (Karabeci 60’), Sukaj, Lika, Malote, Vila Greece: Kasmeridis, Galitsios, Siontis, Balafas, Ioannidis, Rikka, Papadopoulos (Georgiadis 85’), Illiadis (Dimoutsos 74’), Mitroglou (Petropoulos 57’), Christodoulopoulos, Giantsis