Emotional Greek Win Overshadows Carsley's Failure in England

LONDON, FRIDAY – Behind the victory of the Greek national team over England, there was inspiration from the sad news of footballer George Baldock. The Greek squad wanted to pay their last respects to their former colleague. The emotional victory somewhat covered up the failure of the experiment of Lee Carsley, England's interim coach.

Greece won for the first time against England after 10 encounters throughout history. The 2-1 victory felt perfect as it was achieved at the opponent's home ground, Wembley Stadium, London, on Friday (10/11/2024) early morning WIB. Previously, they had never scored a single goal at the grand stadium.

The shocking result of the day was as if it had been written. Before the match, both teams held a minute's silence first. Baldock, a Panathinaikos player, was found dead in the swimming pool of his home on the outskirts of Athens yesterday. Baldock, 31, had played 12 times for the Greek national team.

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"This is a special day for us because of George. (We have been thinking about him) since we received the news yesterday. It is a difficult moment for us because he is part of this team. A special man. We are playing for him. Whatever the outcome today, we want to give everything for him," said Greek forward, Vangelis Pavlidis.

Pavlidis scored two goals at once. After netting the ball, he celebrated by lifting a black armband from his arm. The armband worn by all the players signified mourning. All the Greek players and coaching staff took a photo together with Baldock's jersey after the match. They left the field in tears.

That motivation made Greece appear so spartan throughout the match. They never gave up even though three goals scored were disallowed for offside. Pavlidis and his teammates were also not afraid when opposing midfielder Jude Bellingham equalized in the 87th minute.

All our goals came from mistakes which is disappointing. (Lee Carsley)

The team coached by Ivan Jovanovic remained as strong as possible to withstand the onslaught of the English players. After the opponent's attack ended, they would run as fast as possible to counterattack. The winning goal finally came in 90+3 injury time after a melee in front of the goal, through Pavlidis' kick.

The captain of the England team, John Stones, also praised the performance of the visiting team. "The way they played made it difficult for us to break through their defense line tonight. They pressed us high and made it challenging for us. We were not good enough in building our attacks," he said.

Stones added that the sad news also affected the "Three Lions" players. "Some of our players were very close to him. Hendo (Dean Henderson) is one of them. We know it is not easy for those who knew Baldock," he said.

Baldock was born in Buckingham, England, although he represents the Greek national team. He has spent almost his entire career at English clubs, starting from MK Dons, Oxford United, and most recently Sheffield United. The wing-back player has just moved to Panathinaikos last summer.

The result of the Group A2 match in the European Nations League also marked Lee Carsley's first defeat as England coach. The coach's experiment to play a total offensive strategy was a failure. England's game was unbalanced, looking very vulnerable when counter-attacked by Greece.

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Carsley attempted to accommodate three attacking midfielders at once, namely Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, and Phil Foden. With striker Harry Kane still injured, England played without a pure center forward. Even so, they used a 4-4-2 formation with Bellingham and Foden leading the attack.

Among the central players, only midfielder Declan Rice was tasked with maintaining balance. Palmer often went forward to help attack, supporting Bellingham and Foden. As a result, when the transition situation, Rice was very troubled to guard the England center-back duo. Meanwhile, Greece appeared with two strikers at once.

"We tried something different to pile players up in midfield. We tried that for 20 minutes in training but it was quite disappointing because it didn't come out at all. It's hard to expect much (from a little training). We'll have to try it again," Carsley said.

The “Three Lions” problem is not only that. Their defense line is also new. The defensive duo of Stones and Levi Colwill is played. Colwill served as a wing-back in the previous international window. That position was filled by Manchester City player, Rico Lewis, who is not very good at defending. The team's stability in defense was disturbed.

England were fortunate to only lose by a goal. They could have been worse had the Greek player not been offside. Carsley is aware of the problems at the back and is committed to fixing them immediately. "All our goals were from mistakes which is disappointing," said Carsley.

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The hosts only introduced a pure center forward in the second half. England brought on Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke. The result did not make much difference because their players lacked creativity. Meanwhile, Greece were very comfortable defending in their own penalty box. (AP/REUTERS)