Greek winless streak continues with Denmark draw

Greece and Denmark played out an intriguing draw in Piraeus, as Theofanis Gekas cancelled out Thomas Borring’s early second half breakthrough to assure friendly spoils were shared on Wednesday night. In front of a disappointingly small crowd at the Giorgos Karaiskakis, Greece showed sparks of stylish football ahead of their crucial qualifier with Israel in Ramat Gan next month; however, the ‘Galanoleuki’ went winless for a third consecutive match as a resolute Denmark defense denied Otto Rehhagel’s men of a victory.

Predicted to be a tight encounter, Greece emerged as the dominant side in the early going; the EURO 2004 winners peppering Danish ‘keeper Thomas Sorenson with a handful of efforts in the opening minutes.

Giorgos Karagounis looked to give Greece an early lead when he flashed an eleventh minute free-kick goal wards. The Panathinaikos midfielder narrowly missed as his effort was first deflected by Danish defenders before rapidly sailing over the crossbar.

Portsmouth teammates Theofanis Gekas and Angelos Basinas then looked to combine in order to send Greece ahead. Olympiacos defender Vasilis Torosidis sent a pinpoint pass for Gekas, who then laid the ball off for Basinas. The former AEK Athens midfielder fired a tarnished effort towards the Denmark goal, resulting in routine work for Sorensen.

While Gekas was playing an active role in the Greek attack, at the other end it was Daniel Jensen who began to brew chances for the visiting Danes. Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner controlled an aerial pass to find the Werder Bremen man, who then fired a volleyed effort just wide of Kostas Chalkias’ goal.

Karagounis resumed the Greek attack shortly after. The inspirational midfielder rid himself of two defenders with a brilliant ball control, but left the shot for teammate Basinas who was agonizingly denied a goal thanks to an outstretched Sorensen.

GIorgos Samaras utilized his aerial strength fluently to spring striking partner Gekas on a head-to-head with Sorensen. The Pompey striker managed to toe-poke the loose ball, but the chance was sent to waste as Soresen’s active presence in goal forced Gekas to produce a rushed, weak, and inaccurate effort.

With the Greek bench in dismay of the lack of finishing, Denmark manager Morten Olsen was left ruing in a likewise manner when Dennis Rommedahl failed to deposit the ball in a gaping Greek goal. Rounding PAOK shotstopper, the Ajax Amsterdam winger was plagued by a bad angle as he was unable to send an accurate effort into the back of the Greek net.

With a refreshing pace of end-to-end football captivating the sparse audience on hand Karaiskaki, it was surprising that neither side could net a breakthrough after the first forty-five minutes.

After a handful of changes for both sides, further proving the desire of both managers to experiment with their squad, the second half got off to a rapid start.

It seemed like Greece was just getting settled with its new line-up when Denmark surged into Greek territory less than five minutes into the second frame. Jakob Poulsen marked his international debut with a fine assist towards Jonas Borring, who made easy work of the finish by beating a sprawled Alexandros Tzorvas with a low strike to the bottom right-hand corner.

Unsettled by Denmark’s quick start after the interval, Greece slowly deteriorated a stiff Denmark defense with offensive excursions of its own.

Collaborative brilliance on the ball from Giourkas Seitaridis initiated a mouth-watering play by the Greeks. The Atletico Madrid defender made his marker look foolish on the right flank with fancy footwork freeing up space for the fullback to send a back pass towards Greece captain Karagounis. A deep cross into the box was met by the steady left leg of Torosidis, who played the ball square for an unmarked Gekas; allowing the striker to easily finish the play with a much deserved goal.

With Greece still desperate for another goal, which would likely be the decider in this match, Nikos Liberopoulos looked to live up to his reputation of ‘super-sub’ when he fired a curling effort unattractively wide of Sorensen’s goal.

After a bit of hesitancy on previous stints of possession, Kostas Katsouranis finally released an effort on goal, forcing the best out of Stoke City shot stopper Sorensen, as the ‘keeper pushed the effort over the bar for a corner.

Remaining quiet in attack as Greece asserted offensive pressure on the Danish backline, Denmark’s offense went on a trek into Greek territory, hoping to grab a late goal. Martin Vingaard swung a routine-looking free-kick into the Greek box, but the swerve on the ball saw Greek ‘keeper Tzorvas drop the ball, nearly allowing Per Kroldrup to slot the ball home, but the Greeks were rescued as the Dane was denied by Tzorvas’ leg before smashing the follow-up off the post.

Eintracht Frankfurt’ Liberopoulos has secured memorable game-winning goals against Moldova during Greece’s qualifying campaign for EURO 2008, but another inaccurate try, this time with a free-header near the edge of the penalty area during stoppage time, proved Liberopoulos lacked his lethal touch on this night.

The final whistle signalled a third consecutive home game without a win for the Greeks, who will now look towards a meeting with Israel in Ramat Gan next month. Like Greece, Denmark also leads its World Cup Qualifying group, but will face a tricky test when they visit Malta on matchday five.

Greece 1-1 Denmark
Gekas 61′ – Borring 49′

Yellow Cards:
Greece – none.
Denmark – Jensen 35′, Agger 70′

Greece (Otto Rehhagel): Chalkias (46′ Tzorvas), Seitaridis, Torosidis (75′ Spyropoulos), Dellas (46′ Papadopoulos), Kyrgiakos (46′ Moras), Tziolis, Karagounis, Basinas (46′ Katsouranis), Samaras, Charisteas (46′ Liberopoulos), Gekas.

Denmark (Morten Olsen): T. Sorensen, Jacobsen (61′ J. Poulsen), C. Sorensen, Agger, Kroldrup, C. Poulsen, Jensen (46′ Andreasen), Borring (82′ Kristensen), Rommedahl, Nordstrand (46′ Vingaard), Bendtner (79′ Larsen).

Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco

Venue: Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Athens, Greece.