Bouchalakis falls short, Dárdai victorious in friendly

Joy and despair are separated by the finest of margins in football – after their EURO 2024 qualifying play-off against Georgia in Tbilisi on Tuesday, Andreas Bouchalakis and his Greece team-mates can confirm that. The Hertha midfielder had to wait 99 minutes for his chance to make an impact on proceedings, but made his presence felt quickly as his effort forced a corner, from which team-mate Konstantinos Mavropanos hit the bar. Neither side could find the net by the end of extra time, and a penalty shootout was required to determine who would be heading to this summer’s finals. Although Boucha dispatched his spot-kick, the hosts showed superior composure to win the shootout 4-2 and book their place at a first-ever European Championship.

Full debut for Márton Dárdai

It was a more successful evening for Márton Dárdai. After his debut in Hungary’s last friendly against Türkiye, the defender made his first start for Germany’s Group A opponents in their 2-0 win over Kosovo, playing the full 90 minutes. “We have to improve our game, but I’m happy with the result. It shows we’re making progress. We’re working hard, but we mustn’t forget that we’ll be facing some very high-level opponents,” said head coach Marco Rossi after his side’s 14th consecutive game without defeat.

Goller keeps a clean sheet

Germany’s U21s also maintained their unbeaten run, returning to the top of Group D in EURO qualifying after a 2-0 win over Israel. Linus Gechter was on the bench throughout the match. The U19s, already eliminated from qualifying, defeated Türkiye by the same scoreline as Tim Goller kept a clean sheet. Ibrahim Maza started and played 62 minutes, while Pascal Klemens watched on from the sidelines.

“Obviously we’re still hugely disappointed about not qualifying for the finals, but we showed some positive signs today,” opined head coach Christian Wörns after the match. Germany’s U17s also fell short in their qualifying campaign, after a 3-2 defeat against Portugal allowed Croatia to leapfrog them in their group. Boris Mamuzah Lam was an unused substitute for the defending champions.