Sporting’s Greek star sets up goal in thumping 5-1 win over Belarus | OneFootball

Greece, with Georgios Vagiannidis as a starter, kicked off the qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the best way, thrashing Belarus 5-1, this Friday, September 5th. The new Sporting signing was one of the standout players and provided an assist for a goal. Fotis Ioannidis entered the match in the 73rd minute.

By the 3rd minute, the Greek team was already leading, thanks to a persistent play by Vangelis Pavlidis, who entered the left side of the area and crossed for Karetsas' easy goal. At 17 minutes, the Benfica forward responded to a cross from the right and headed in for a goal.

Then it was Bakasetas' turn, served by Georgios Vagiannidis outside the area, to unleash a rocket for the third goal. The offensive flow did not slow down and even before halftime, at 37', it was midfielder Dimitrios Kourbelis' turn to respond to a corner taken by Bakasetas on the left and head in—with some help from the post—for 4-0.

Greece did not take their foot off the pedal and, at 63', won the ball in the opponent's area and Vangelis Pavlidis assisted Christian Tzolis for an easy goal. Before the game ended, at 72'—just before Fotis Ioannidis entered the game—Belarus was awarded a penalty and Barkovsky scored the consolation goal for the visitors.

With this result, the Greek team leads Group C with three points, two more than Scotland and Denmark, who drew 0-0 in the other match. Morten Hjulmand, Sporting's captain, started the match but could not prevent the Nordic team's slip-up in Copenhagen.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.