On Friday, starting at 17:00, the match Armenia – Greece will be played in the 9th round of the EURO 2020 preliminaries, Group J. Greeks no longer have a chance to qualify, and Armenians depend on the results of Finland. Until the defeat in the round, score 2-3, Greece was undefeated in front of Armenia, registering 3 victories and a draw. Given that Finland reaches EURO 2020 with a victory against Liechtenstein, Armenians retain only theoretical chances.
Armenia scored 10 points so far in the campaign, with 5 fewer than Finland, which ranks 2nd in Group J. The team prepared by Abraham Khashmanyan achieved two important results in these preliminaries, 3-2 with Greece and 4-2 with Bosnia and Herzegovina, on their own ground.
The European champion in 2004, Greece missed again in the final tournament, after not qualifying in 2016. Four failures in the first 8 rounds made it impossible for the Greek national to have any theoretical chance to qualify. Trained now by the Dutchman John van ‘t Schip, Greece will evolve to Yerevan just for the record. With a team consisting of most of the players in the national championship teams, the Greeks aim for the first external success after three defeats and an equal.
Armenia will play its chance and will try to achieve a positive result against Greece. It all depends on Finland, but Liechtenstein has shown that it can provide surprises. In Group J, Italy had no problems and leads the hierarchy with maximum score after 8 rounds.
Goalkeeper: Vasilis Barkas (AEK Athens), Odysseas Vlachodimos (Benfica), Alexandros Paschalakis (PAOK Thessaloniki)
Founders: Michalis Bakakis (AEK Athens), Dimitris Giannoulis (PAOK Thessaloniki), Dimitris Siovas (CD Leganes), Kostas Tsimikas and Leonardos Koutris (both Olympiakos), Kostas Stafilidis (1899 Hoffenheim), Haris Mavrias (Omonia), Pantelis Hatzidiak Alkmaar), Vasilis Lambropoulos (Deportivo La Coruna)
Midfielders: Dimitris Kourbelis (Panathinaikos), Sebastian Vasiliadis (SC Paderborn), Andreas Bouchalakis (Olympiakos), Kostas Galanopoulos and Petros Mantalos (both AEK Athens)
Forwards: Efthimis Koulouris (Toulouse), Tasos Bakasetas (Alanyaspor), Vangelis Pavlidis (Willem II), Tasos Donis (Stade de Reims), Dimitris Limnios (PAOK Thessaloniki), Giannis Fetfatzidis (Aris Thessaloniki), Giorgos Masouras (Olympiakos).
PREDICTION: Greece to win @ 2,05
