Greece national under-19 football team

European national under-19 football team
Name = Greece Under-19
Badge =
Nickname = Εθνική Νέων
("National team of Youth")
Association = Hellenic Football Federation
Coach = flagicon|Greece Alexis Alexiou
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UEFAu19Champ best = Runners-up, 2007|

The Greece National Under-19 Football Team is the national football team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation. In July 2007 the Under-19 Football Team finished second in the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in Linz, Austria.

History

The road to Austria

Greece Under-19 Team started the campaign leading to the 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship in October 2006. During the First Qualifying Round the team was seeded in the Group 1, with Bulgaria (hostess), Ukraine and Kazakhstan being the other participants in the group. Greece finished at the top of the Group 1, after two wins against the hosts Bulgarians (2-0 in October 20, goals by Lambropoulos and Vallianos) and Ukraine (2-1 in October 25, goals by Vassilios Pliatsikas and Lambropoulos). The team also lost 4-2 to Kazakhstan (October 22nd, goals by Kostantinos Mitroglou and Pliatsikas).

Greece hosted the next phase, called Elite Round, facing now stronger opponents. Against Croatia on June 1 of 2007, Greece was held to 2-2 by a late equaliser despite two goals from the Greek promising attacker Kostantinos Mitroglou. Two days later Mitroglou stroke against and lead the team to a 2-0 win against Italy, Siovas scoring the other goal. Finally, on June 6, Greece crashed Sweden 4-0, with goals from Papadopoulos, Mitroglou, Ath. Papazoglou and a late own-goal from the Swedish team. Again, Greece U-19 Team sealed the first place of the group.

2007 European Under-19 Championship in Austria

Greece was seeded in the Group A with Austria, Portugal and Spain. The team started with a precious victory against Portugal (16 July 2007), in a close encounter with lots of opportunities from both sides. Sotiris Ninis and Kostantinos Mitroglou were a constant danger and finally the second scored on the 52nd minute. Two days later, Greece faced the hosting Autria team and also the crowd that filled the stadium in Pasching. Ninis showed great vision breaking the Austrian defense with a through ball that brought Mitroglou alone against the opponent goalkeeper. Mitroglou scored again but the hosts scored a second half goal from penalty and the match ended 1-1. On July 21 Greece faced holders and favourites Spain. Both teams qualified after a goalless draw, despite a good second half performance from the Greek side and a lost penalty by Mitroglou .

The semifinal against Germany was held on July 24 in Steyr. The German side included promising stars with experience in the Bundesliga, such as Sebastian Tyrala, Jerome Boateng, and Anis Ben-Hatira. The Germans, who had finished firsth in Group B, started strongly and piled up pressure until they scored on the 25th minute with Ben-Hatira. Greece responded almost immediately with shots from Papadopoulos, Pliatsikas and Mitroglou and it was Ninis, Greece's wonderkid who unlocked the German defense on the 40th minute to score a deserved equaliser. Greece seemed vivid in the start of the second half and had some chances until Ninis with a clever header found Mitroglou in the area 58 minutes after the start of the game. The Greek striker scored his third goal of the tournament and Greece was now ahead 2-1. On the 61st minute Vassilios Pliatsikas was shown a second yellow card and the team now is left with ten. Germany started its counter attack and was given a controversial penalty four minutes later, taken successfully from Ben-Hatira for the 2-2. Despite playing with ten men the Greek side managed to overcome the German pressure and tried to hit back. It was the 90th minute when Ninis took a corner from left, aimed Lambropoulos at the near post and the young forward beat the German goalkeeper to give a dramatic and memorable 3-2 win to the Greek side.

Greece faced Spain on July 27 in Linz. The Spanish coach Juan Santisteban and his side were the holders and the first to reach successive U19 finals. Players from giants Real Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona were among the Spanish players. The Greek team, on the other side was very confident and inspired by the coaching of Nikos Nioplias who pushed a ten-men team forward in the game against Germany. However Greece had two experienced players out. Vassilios Pliatsikas had faced a red card in the semifinal and the captain, central defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos picked a second yellow in the tournament when Germany was awarded a controversial penalty in the semifinal. It is said that the referee has acknowledged his mistake to Papastathopoulos after the game.

The game started with long shots from the Spanish team in the first ten minutes and the Greek team was also dangerous with Mitroglou and Sotiris Ninis. Unfortunately Greece paid for the missed chances when Daniel Parejo scored a free-kick from a wide position on the 38 minute, after the best Spanish player, Aaron had won a foul from Siakas. Greece showed an impressive fight to come back with chances missed from Moniakis, Siovas, Mitroglou and Papadopoulos but the Spanish defence held during the second half. The Spanish team won the final but the Greek team deserved more with its display after the 1-0. Nikos Nioplias expressed his pride in the team after the game and the Spanish coach referred to a "great Greek side". Sotiris Ninis and Sokratis Papastathopoulos were included by UEFA in the "name-to-note" list after the end of the tournament. Kostantinos Mitroglou, with 3 goals in 5 games, shared the first scorer title with highly-rated Ben-Hatira (Germany) and Monnet-Paquet (France).

The current roster

As of 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship

Head coach: flagicon|GRE Alexis Alexiou