Spain and Greece make their point

Spain and Greece both reached the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship as a goalless draw in Linz confirmed them in first and second place respectively in Group A.

Draw sufficient
Both teams had taken four points from their first two fixtures and therefore knew a draw would suffice today, although it was Greece who came closest to taking the three points as Spain goalkeeper Felipe Ramos kept out Kostas Mitroglou's penalty early in the second period to deny the striker his third goal of the finals. The holders therefore stretched their unbeaten run in competitive U19 fixtures to 14 games and will play Group B runners-up France on Tuesday in their third semi-final in four years, while Greece are in the last four for the first time and will meet Germany, winners of Group B, the same day.

Aarón in action
With both sides knowing a point would ensure progress, it was perhaps little surprise the match opened in sedate fashion with Spain content to keep possession and probe for openings while Greece dropped off and squeezed the space. Aarón Ñíguez forced Kyriakos Stratilatis – replacing Apostolos Androustos in the Greece goal - into a low stop in the eighth minute and the Valencia CF player was involved in much of his side's best work in the opening 45 minutes, delivering a free-kick Emilio Nsue nodded off target and flashing a volley across the face of goal from Carlos Coto's deep right-wing cross.

Greece glimmer
Coto narrowly missed the target himself after exchanging passes with César Azpilicueta on the edge of the penalty area, before at the other end a long ball from Vasilis Apostolopoulos caught out the Spain defence but Dimitrios Siovas overhit his pass in unselfishly attempting to square for Mitroglou. Greece showed glimmers of their threat as an attacking force in the opening period, although a long-range Vassilis Pliatsikas strike that went straight to Ramos was the sum total of their efforts on target.

Mitroglou miss
The second half began in similar fashion with neither side willing to commit players forward, although Greece were presented with a golden chance to break the deadlock two minutes before the hour as Giannis Papadopoulos was pulled down by Mikel Sanjosé only for Ramos to dive to his left and block Mitroglou's weak spot-kick. Pablo Gil was injured in keeping out the follow-up and soon limped off to be replaced by Jon Echaide. Spain nevertheless held on in some comfort for the point that left both teams happy.