Live updates from the 7.45pm BST kick-off at WembleyNext Generation 2019: where are they now five years on?Live scores – follow all the goals | Drop Scott an email here
The last time England played Greece, at Old Trafford in a 2006 friendly, the visitors were the reigning European champions and the hosts scored four goals in the first half. John Terry, Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch (2) did the business that evening, launching the Steve McClaren era in spectacular style. The game ended 4-0 and the Guardian’s Kevin McCarra observed that the new boss “might wish that his career as England manager could end on the night it began”, a wry observation that many others would soon vehemently wish had come to pass. So let’s not place too much importance on how Lee Carsley’s all-out attacking plan pans out tonight: as harbingers go, this fixture has proved itself a bum steer in the past.
The one before that? A 2-2 draw in 2001, the David Beckham game, the one that sent England to the 2002 World Cup with belief that Sven-Göran Eriksson could be the man to put an end to those 36 years of hurt. A reliable foreshadowing it most certainly was not.
Greece P2 W2 D0 L0 F5 A0 Pts6
England P2 W2 D0 L0 F4 A0 Pts6
Republic of Ireland P2 W0 D0 L2 F0 A4 Pts6
Finland P2 W0 D0 L2 F0 A5 Pts0
About Author
More Stories
Keir Starmer seeks 2030 host for troubled Commonwealth Games
David Warner’s lifetime leadership ban lifted six years after ball-tampering scandal
Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend