Belgium 1-1 Greece
It was almost the ultimate smash n’ grab!
Greece, down to 10 men, having had one shot on target and with under 30 per cent possession, were minutes away from shocking the betting odds and pulling off a surprise victory.
If you had bet online on an away victory in Brussels, you would have been getting very excited.
That is until the on-fire Romelu Lukaku scored a great goal to equalise and keep the Belgians top of Group H.
Still, the drama wasn’t over in as Georgios Tzavellas was shown a second yellow card, just as team-mate Panagiotis Tachtsidis had been midway through the second half.
But Greece, who remain unbeaten in qualifying, held on to claim a point which was very nearly three after Kostas Mitroglou’s opener just 18 seconds after the restart.
A solid defensive performance from the Greeks not only ended Belgium’s 100 per cent qualifying record but also reawakened questions about the failings of the national side.
One game like this should not necessarily cause alarm of course, especially as Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, their two most creative talents, were both absentees.
Yet their failure to convert wave after wave of attacks proved frustrating, and that frustration was evident late on as a scuffle broke out deep in injury time when Tzavellas was shown his marching orders.
There are two ways to assess this.
Remember, this is a golden generation of Belgian footballers who should be doing better with the quality in the squad.
On the flip side, this was a dominant showing in terms of possession (71%) and shots – 17 compared to Greece’s two – so in other circumstances this may have been a one-sided scoreline.
Whichever fence you sit on, scrutiny is almost certain to follow for Belgium.
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