National cup

National Stadium
Spectators: 1028 (Terracing: 772, Seating: 236, VIP seats: 20) Babbis Chatzios started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. An unexpectedly hard shot by Giorgos Iatropoulos in the 2nd minute of play forced U21 Finland's goalkeeper Saku Sihvonen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a little luck, U21 Greece's Fanis Takounis got control of the ball when Ahvo Pölönen tried to sneak it across the goal line. U21 Finland's Saku Sihvonen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Miltos Prinianakis in the 17th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Babbis Chatzios in the 21st minute of play forced U21 Finland's goalkeeper Saku Sihvonen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a little luck, U21 Greece's Fanis Takounis got control of the ball when Ossi Vatanen tried to sneak it across the goal line. Fanis Takounis made an important save on a dangerous shot by Ossi Vatanen in the 25th minute. Miltos Prinianakis kicked well hit freekick during the 25th minute of the match. Fanis Takounis showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Johannes Hotakainen, who was totally free with the ball in the 26th minute. In the 27th match minute, U21 Finland was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Ahvo Pölönen to maneuver through the defense. After some careless play in the U21 Finland defense, Nikos Sidiropoulos kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Saku Sihvonen. The U21 Finland fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Saku Sihvonen should have stopped the shot. Saku Sihvonen made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Babbis Chatzios in the 32nd minute of play. In the 35th minute Johannes Hotakainen shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Fanis Takounis saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. An unexpectedly hard shot by Giorgos Iatropoulos in the 36th minute of play forced U21 Finland's goalkeeper Saku Sihvonen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. U21 Finland's Saku Sihvonen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Babbis Chatzios in the 39th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Johannes Hotakainen in the 40th minute of play forced U21 Greece's goalkeeper Fanis Takounis to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Fanis Takounis made a fantastic save in the 43rd minute, when Ahvo Pölönen sent off a good shot on target. Fanis Takounis was in exellent shape and made a fantastic save when he, in the 44th minute of the match, managed to get hold of the ball after a long shot from Perttu Pynnönen. After 46 played minutes U21 Finland got a freekick which was hit by Perttu Pynnönen. Saku Sihvonen made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nikos Sidiropoulos in the 47th minute of play.

Olavi Haarala hit a great freekick 53 minutes into the match. Saku Sihvonen took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Nikos Sidiropoulos, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Babbis Chatzios in the 56th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Saku Sihvonen prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Saku Sihvonen showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Giorgos Iatropoulos, who was totally free with the ball in the 60th minute. Saku Sihvonen took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Babbis Chatzios, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Nikos Sidiropoulos in the 63rd managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Saku Sihvonen saved U21 Finland from getting behind. When the match clock showed 63 minutes, the score became 0-2 when Nikos Sidiropoulos sped through U21 Finland's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Saku Sihvonen. U21 Greece's Takis Karakonstantinou was substituted for Ermis Koutsopoulos. U21 Greece's Kosmas Katsiabis was substituted for Giorgos Iatropoulos. The audience thought a goal was coming when Babbis Chatzios got free with Saku Sihvonen in the 69th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. 70 minutes into the match, U21 Finland's goal looked a bit too open when Kosmas Katsiabis came free, but Saku Sihvonen reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. U21 Finland's Saku Sihvonen proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 73rd minute of the match, managed to save U21 Finland from getting a goal against them. In the 75th match minute, U21 Greece was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Thomas Zanteroglou to maneuver through the defense. After a rather tough play, U21 Greece's Thomas Zanteroglou got a free kick in the 76th minute. Miltos Prinianakis received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 78th minute. Saku Sihvonen tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. U21 Finland's Saku Sihvonen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nikos Sidiropoulos in the 88th minute of play. U21 Finland's defense didn't have a chance, in the 89th minute, when Nikos Sidiropoulos scored to the left of an out of position Saku Sihvonen, making the score, 0-4. When U21 Finland's Eduardo Costa in the 92nd minute got a chance for a shot 92nd didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye U21 Greece's goalie prevented a goal. 1-4 became the score in the 95th minute when Johannes Hotakainen elegantly shot the ball into goal just under the crossbar. The U21 Finland fans had already started to leave before the final whistle blew. U21 Greece were clearly better and deserved to take the win.