The Greek Men’s Soccer Team recorded a 12th straight game without a victory after losing 3-1 to Northern Ireland in Belfast on Thursday evening in the penultimate game of the 2016 EURO Qualifiers.
This series of underperforming displays means the team will not participate in the 2016 EURO tournament in France this upcoming summer. Northern Ireland on the other hand topped Group F with this victory to win a ticket to its first EURO finals.
This was not what fans expected following a spirited display in the 2014 World Cup where the Greek team reached the tournament’s last 16 phase, the country’s greatest achievement in the finals of the most important international soccer tournament.
Three different coaches have managed the team in these past 12 matches. Greece’s last victory came against the Ivory Coast in the final game of the 2014 World Cup Group stages in Brazil. The date was June 24.
Claudio Ranieri who had three losses and one draw, Segrio Markarian who had one draw and one loss before being sacked this past summer, and former Under-21 head coach and the current interim coach Kostas Tsanas has managed one draw and two losses. Altogether the three men and their players have been able to salvage three points from nine games while their teams have conceded 11 goals and scored three.
Greece now faces Hungary on Sunday in the final game of this disappointing qualifying tournament. The Greeks will seek to avoid finishing last, but are up against a team who will also be fighting for a victory to secure a place in the finals of the tournament.
With the completion of this tournament the team will seek to regroup and rebuild its foundations.
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