A dominating Greek side routed Kazakhstan 5-0 on Thursday evening and will face Georgia in Tbilisi in a decider on Wednesday, March 27, for one of the three remaining spots leading to the UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany.
The “blue-and-white” Greek national football team was already up at halftime by 4-0 before a sold-out crowd at the Opap Arena stadium in Athens’ northwest Nea Philadelphia district.
If victorious in Georgia, coach Gus Poyet’s Greece side will qualify for their first tournament since the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Team captain Tassos Bakasetas opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 8th minute, after Greek forward Dimitris Pelkas was clumsily brought down by Kazakh defenders in the penalty area.
Pelkas doubled the score with a diving header in the 15th minute. Fotis Ioannidis made it 3-0 in the 37th minute after an exquisite assist by Giorgos Massouras. Dimitris Kourbelis in the 40th and an own goal by Kazakh defender Yerkin Tapalov in the 85th completed the scoring.
