Greece maintained their unbeaten record under coach Fernando Santos, beating Canada 1-0 at Larissa in a friendly game on Wednesday through a Yiannis Fetfatzidis goal.
The Greece manager who was deprived of injured Avraam
Papadopoulos, Alexandros Tziolis and Giorgos Samaras, fielded a strong side that did little in the first half but were more effective in the second against a mediocre opponent.Canada were the better team in the first half as Greece could not translate their ball possession into chances, while the visitors were more effective in their counterattacks.
Greece's best chance in the first half came from a right-foot shot by Dimitris Salpigidis at the 44th minute. Canada did pose some threat but did not really trouble Greece keeper Michalis Sifakis.
At the start of the second half Santos introduced Panionios striker Costas Mitroglou, who missed a good chance two minutes after coming on the pitch and had a goal disallowed as offside five minutes later.
He then failed to beat Canada keeper Milan Borjan at the 56th following a great through ball by Nikos Liberopoulos. Unfortunately Mitroglou was later injured and had to be substituted by Giorgos Georgiadis.
Borjan again rose to the challenge at the 59th by fisting away a great Giorgos Tzavellas shot from outside the box.
It was only a matter of time before Greece scored, and the time came at the 63rd minute when Fetfatzidis took advantage of a poor clearance by the Canadian defence to power home a left-foot shot. This was the Olympiakos player's first-ever goal with the national team.
Canada threatened the goal of substitute keeper Costas Chalkias at the 75th minute through a Dwayne De Rosario free-kick, but the PAOK goallie pushed the ball over the bar.
Santos expressed his satisfaction with the team's performance, stating that "at certain times we were exceptionally good, particularly in the second half".
He added that Fetfatzidis could have scored more goals, "but I hope he is saving them for the games with Malta," Greece's next opponent for the European Championship qualification group.
Before kickoff the Hellenic Football Federation honoured former Greece manager Otto Rehhagel for his glorious nine years on the national team's bench.
source: sportingreece
