Greece 2-0 Bulgaria
Greece extended their unbeaten run to 14 games as a solid display earned victory against their fellow UEFA EURO 2004™ finalists in Athens tonight.
A goal in each half, from Dimitrios Papadopoulos and Zisis Vryzas, secured a tenth win in 14 matches for Otto Rehhagel's team and should leave the Greeks in good heart at they prepare to face Russia, Spain and hosts Portugal in Group A this summer.
Eager to extend his side's fine run, Rehhagel opted for a
4-4-2 formation with young Panathinaikos FC striker Papadopoulos paired with SV Werder Bremen's Angelos Charisteas up front and Vassilios Lakis supporting from midfield.
Rehhagel's formation almost paid off as early as the 12th minute when Lakis picked out Charisteas inside the penalty area, but the striker directed his header wide of the target. The visitors responded quickly, with Ivailo Petkov sending a powerful strike just past Antonios Nikopolidis's right-hand post two minutes later.
In an open start to the match, Dimitar Berbatov began to exert his influence for Bulgaria, but the home side created the better chances, with Lakis bursting past two defenders on the right only to shoot too high.
However, Greece did make the breakthrough in the 25th minute, with Lakis again involved. Vassilios Tsiartas picked out the AEK Athens FC midfield player on the right, and his cross was turned in by Papadopoulos from close range for his first international goal.
The goal sparked a frenetic passage of play, with chances at both ends. Berbatov's header forced Nikopolidis to produce a fine double save, and the same player came close to creating an equaliser for Georgi Peev moments later, but the midfield player volleyed wide.
Greece almost doubled their lead ten minutes before half-time as Charisteas headed the ball into the path of Tsiartas, who shot just wide. Tsiartas then created a chance for Papadopoulos, but the striker was unable to head in his cross with only Zdravko Zdravkov to beat.
Both sides made changes at the break, with Rehhagel switching to a 4-5-1 lineup and leaving Vryzas on his own up front. Ioannis Amanatidis bolstered the attack down the left, while Nikos Dabizas replaced Mihalis Kapsis in defence.
Plamen Markov made three changes to his Bulgaria side, introducing goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov, AEK's Milen Petkov and Elin Topuzakov. Bulgaria enjoyed most of the possession in the opening stages but it was the home side who scored again as Vryzas converted Tsiartas's cross on the hour to double Greece's lead.
Both coaches continued to shuffle their lineups, with Bulgaria enjoying more of the ball but without ever really threatening to come back into the match. However, Iankovic came close to halving the deficit with 15 minutes left, but his header from Martin Petrov's perfect cross was calmly dealt with by Nikopolidis.
Source: Uefa.com
