Greece off to fine start against Latvia
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
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Greece 2-0 Latvia
Vangelis Anastasopoulos and substitute Kostas Dermitzoglo scored at either end of a dominant Greece performance for an opening win.
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A goal in the second minute and another in added time got UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round 3 hosts Greece off to a winning start against Latvia.
Roared on by a boisterous 1,500-strong home crowd in Komotini, including many schoolchildren, Greece went ahead on two minutes through Vangelis Anastasopoulos. Kostas Dermitzoglo clinched the points late on after a dominant performance.
Greece got off to a dream start when Anastasopoulos headed in a cross by Vassilis Karagounis. Latvia came close soon after when Reinis Flaksis's close-range header was saved by Stefanos Kapino, like Karagounis and Charis Mavrias part of Greece's finals squad last year.
After that Greece dominated, Mavrias a constant threat on the left, but they could not force a second before the break and continued in that vein following the interval. On a rare occasion Greece's defence was caught napping in the 61st minute, Valērijs Šabala missed an open target, and the lead was doubled when substitute Dermitzoglo picked up a loose ball in the box and shot in.
Mavrias, whose team play the Republic of Ireland on Friday while Latvia face Denmark, said: "It was a good match for us and a fair result. Our goal is to win the group and make it to Serbia."