Greece ends Albanian hopes; Jeopardizes their own

A heated match in Albania ended with Greece’s and Albania’s U-21 sides sharing the spoils at the Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium in Elbasan. A twenty-fifth minute strike from Panathinaikos summer signing Lazaros Christodoulopoulos was cancelled out by an early second half equalizer from Xhevahir Sukaj.

Dropping two crucial points in Albania, Greece’s chances of progressing past the qualifying round have taken a hit. A tough stretch of games against Italy and the Faroe Islands sees Greece in need of consecutive wins and further fortunes elsewhere. Nikos Nioplias’ men will hope Croatia drops points at home to Albanian and group-leaders Italy.

Albania, meanwhile, will look to finish on a strong note after the draw against their neaighbours to the South was not enough to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Greece 1-1 Albania
Christodoulopoulos 25′ – Sukaj 66′

Yellow Cards:
Greece – Ioannidis 20′, Balafas 66′, Galitsios 88′
Albania – Caushaj 26′

Albania (Artan Bushati): Koliki, Arabi, Zekiri (Fana 87′), Likmeta, Ramazani, Malidi (Filipi 55′), Shoshi (Karabeci 60′), Sukaj, Lika, Malote, Vila

Greece (Nikos Nioplias): Kasmeridis, Galitsios, Siontis, Balafas, Ioannidis, Rikka, Papadopoulos (Georgiadis 85′), Illiadis (Dimoutsos 74′), Mitroglou (Petropoulos 57′), Christodoulopoulos, Giantsis