Greece dedicate historic win to Baldock after beating Lions
Vangelis Pavlidis, the hero of the Greek national team who scored twice to lead the team to a 2-1 victory over England at Wembley in the UEFA Nations League on October 10, said after the match that he dedicated the historic victory to George Baldock, the Panathinaikos defender who died suddenly at the age of 31 a day earlier.
Former Sheffield United star found dead in pool at home on the outskirts of Athens, with police unable to find evidence of a third party and initial speculation he drowned while swimming.
Before the match, the Greek Football Federation had tried to ask for the ufabet https://ufabet999.app game to be postponed, but UEFA said it was not possible due to the tight schedule. A minute of silence was held for Baldock before the game. With Pavlidis pointing to his mourning armband after scoring the opening goal. Before the Greek players held up shirts bearing Baldock’s name after the winner in stoppage time, with several players in tears after the match.
The victory was a historic one for Greece, as it was their first win at Wembley and the Greeks, ranked 48th in the FIFA rankings, are the lowest-ranked team to win at the Three Lions’ home ground since Northern Ireland did so in 2005.
Pavlidis said: “This is a very special day for us because of what happened with Baldock. Since we heard the news. We have been thinking about him a lot. It is a difficult moment because Baldock is part of the team. He is special and we play for him. It does not matter what the score is today. We give everything for him.
Baldock has 12 caps for Greece. But was not included in the squad for this week’s internationals.
Greece coach Ivan Jovanovic said the whole team and everyone here had gone through a difficult 24 hours. Baldock’s death was unthinkable and at times like this football is secondary. His spirit is with us in the dressing room. He left something with the team and we saw that in this game.
England captain John Stones said: “Everyone in the dressing room and the Football Association (FA) would like to send their condolences to Baldock’s family. There are players in the squad who are close to him. We know this is a difficult day for Griezmann. Our goalkeeper Dean Henderson was close to him when he played for Sheffield United and he has been struggling to cope with the news.