Greece beat Finland 1-0 in Athens on Thursday, but it was not enough to avert Greece’s elimination from the Nations League, on the debut of coach Angelos Anastasiadis on the Greece bench.
An own goal from Albin Granlund gave Greece a much-needed and deserved victory against the Finns, who still earned promotion from the group despite conceding their first goal of the campaign and dropping their first points.
Greece now face Estonia in Athens in three days time where they will look for a victory to finish with 12 points in the group, which could still be enough to earn a place in the EURO 2020 qualifying playoffs in March 2020.
The game also marked the successful debut of Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos in Greece’s goal.