Greece delivered one of its most convincing performances in years, leaving Belgrade with a huge 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Serbia in both teams’ League A opener of the Nations League on Thursday, Sept. 24.
The Greek side fell behind early but refused to buckle, creating a flurry of chances before goals from Christos Tzolis and Anastasios Douvikas sealed a famous away win. The numbers tell the story: Greece finished the match with 26 shots, dominating the hosts for long stretches.
Tzolis leveled the score in the 74th minute, and Douvikas completed the turnaround five minutes into stoppage time, giving the national team the best possible start to its campaign.
Coach Ivan Jovanovic deployed Kostoulas behind Pavlidis in a bid to give Greece more attacking bite, with Karetsas and Tzolis operating on the flanks. From the outset, Greece showed a clear willingness to press high and take the game to their opponents.
Despite the bright start, a momentary lapse at the back put Serbia ahead in just the fourth minute. Tadic found space inside the box and cut the ball back toward the far post, where Zivkovic slotted home to make it 1-0.
The long-awaited equalizer finally came in the 74th minute. Pavlidis held the ball up superbly before laying it off to the left for Tzolis. The Greek attacking midfielder took a touch, cut inside, and unleashed a superb left-footed shot that struck the post and went in for 1-1.
In the 95th minute, Michailidis sent a long ball forward to Tsimikas, who swung a cross into the box. Douvikas timed his run perfectly to the near post and headed home to make it 2-1, completing a remarkable comeback in Belgrade.
Greece thus came away from Serbia with a statement win, backing up its attacking display over the full 90 minutes with a total of 26 shots.
