Greece preserve slender hopes

Goals either side of half-time from Lazaros Hristodoulopoulos and Konstantinos Mitroglou edged Greece to a home win against Albania.

Mitroglou winner
The hosts took the lead on 27 minutes when PAOK FC's Hristodoulopoulos converted a spot-kick after Stilianos Iliadis had been brought down by Bledion Guga. The visitors equalised within eight minutes through Xheyahir Sukaj's header, but Greece were rewarded for their attacking endeavour nine minutes after the restart when Olympiacos CFP midfielder Mitroglou, who had scored in October's 2-2 draw with Italy, finished off Iliadis's through ball.

Slim chance
Greece held on for the victory although their prospects of qualifying for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs remain slim, since Group 1 leaders Italy and second-placed Croatia also prevailed, against Faroe Islands and Azerbaijan respectively. Greece lie third in the group with 13 points from seven matches. They next visit Albania on 26 March 2008.