Croatia 4-1 Greece: 5 Talking Points

#4 Sokratis and Mitroglou, the sole shining lights for grieved Greece

Croatia v Greece - FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier Play-Off: First leg

In a Greece side that was in sixes and sevens throughout, painfully unsettled and terribly unconvincing, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Konstantinos Mitroglou were the sole shining lights.

These are the two who conjured tense moments in the Croatian halves on an occasion or two, whilst the former even scored a consolatory goal, which is the only thread by which the Greek team now dangles.

When Croatia led 2-0 within the first quarter of the match, the pressure were seriously on Greece to respond. And respond they did, when the Borussia Dortmund centre-back struck a header beyond Daniel Subasic, halving the deficit and also providing his side with a much-needed breathing space.

It was a good opportunity for the visitors to pile on, only for the defence to continue to make glaring errors.

Croatia v Greece - FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier Play-Off: First leg

Mitroglou, on the other hand, made two late efforts. One of his attempts was just wide off the mark, whilst the follow up was thwarted safely by Subasic. It's sad that a player of his ilk, who also scored 6 goals in the qualifying, to be devoid of service in the final third, which otherwise would've put Greece in a more able position.

On a night that would certainly be difficult to forget for the Greek defence, these two players stood out of the lot. And that's perhaps the only things the fans would cherish from an otherwise dreaded spectacle from their team.