hungary: márton fülöp (gk), zoltán szélesi, tamás vaskó, roland juhász, vilmos vanczák, ádám vass, dániel tozsér (dk. 85 leandro), ákos buzsáky, tamás hajnal (c) (dk. 76 attila filkor), péter halmosi (dk. 81 róbert feczesin), tamás priskin
yedekler: lászló köteles (gk), balázs dzsudzsák, krisztián vermes, béla balogh
greece fight back to win in budapest published: wednesday 21 november 2007, 23.56cet hungary 1-2 greece greece ended their successful uefa euro 2008™ qualifying campaign on a winning note with a fine comeback in budapest.
greece ended their successful uefa euro 2008™ qualifying campaign on a winning note after coming from a goal down to grind out a victory against hungary in budapest.
basinas winner otto rehhagel's men were fortunate to go in at half-time on level terms having fallen behind to ákos buzsáky's early deflected opener. home defender vilmos vanczák threw the visitors a lifeline midway through the first half when he headed past his own goalkeeper before captain angelos basinas scored a penalty a minute before the hour to complete a determined comeback from the european champions.
early opener hungary were certainly quicker out of the blocks: tamás priskin breaking clear after a mistake by greece full-back christos patsatzoglou, only to be denied by goalkeeper konstantinos chalkias's fine block. six minutes later, the home pressure yielded the lead as buzsáky went on a mazy run before firing in a shot which deflected off konstantinos katsouranis and over chalkias.
hungary chances greece levelled on 22 minutes with their first real attack of the match. katsouranis's right-wing cross was flicked across goal by alexandros tziolis and headed into his own net by vanczák. the title-holders, so convincing in their 5-0 weekend demolition of malta, were reduced to long-range efforts from basinas while peter várhidi's team continued to carve out decent opportunities. péter halmosi should have converted buzsáky's 31st-minute centre, before dániel tozsér was denied from 20 metres by chalkias.
paying the penalty relief for rehhagel came when greece won a penalty following hungary keeper márton fülöp's foul on theofanis gekas – basinas stepping up confidently to put his side ahead. vanczák should have equalised on 71 minutes when he sent a free header straight at substitute keeper antonios nikopolidis. it was to prove the last chance for hungary who finished the campaign second-bottom of group c.
