Christos Tzolis has shared his delight at Greece earning their first win over Germany, even if he admits he had some fortune with the winning goal.
Arsenal summer signing Christos Tzolis is having a strong international break so far, with Greece winning both of their Nations League fixtures away to Serbia and Germany.
Tzolis played a pivotal role in the comeback victory against Serbia, scoring Greece’s equaliser in the 74th minute, and he was involved again as his country scored a late winner in Germany on Sunday.
Picking up the ball on the left-hand side of the penalty area, Tzolis drove at his man before attempting a cutback. The ball deflected heavily into the path of Dimitrios Kourbelis, who converted with the help of another deflection.
There was certainly an element of fortune about the goal, which Tzolis didn’t deny afterwards. But the end result was a 1-0 win, Greece’s second victory from two tricky away games, and top spot in the group.
“It feels great to win here. It was a tough time for us,” Tzolis said. “It is the first time Greece have won against Germany. I’m happy it happened today.
“Our goal was a bit lucky, but we played our game how we wanted to and we’re happy with the result.
“We knew they’d be aggressive in pressing, so we didn’t want to play their game, but ours. Long balls, counter-attacks when they’re not pressing. We knew they’d also make mistakes and we just knew we had to be there in these specific moments.”
Germany were unfortunate to be without Kai Havertz, who has returned to Arsenal for further assessment on his injury. Reports on the problem have largely been speculation so far, and it remains to be seen whether the Gunners striker will miss matches when club football returns.
Havertz’s international break is over now anyway, as he was only called up for the first two games. Regardless of his injury, he was expected to have this time off.
As for Tzolis, he faces two more big games against the Netherlands (Thursday, October 1st) and Germany (Sunday, October 4th), both at home in Greece.
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