Greece captain's emotional George Baldock speech before famous England win
Greece was motivated by a desire to honour George Baldock after his sudden death as captain Tassos Bakaseta rallied his players pre-match in the dressing room before their win
by Samuel Meade · The MirrorGreece captain Tassos Bakaseta told his team-mates to "sacrifice themselves to honour George Baldock" in a rousing pre-match speech.
England were undone by the Greeks, who secured their first ever win over the Three Lions as Vangelis Pavlidis struck twice in the second-half. The visitors were further motivated by a desire to pay tribute to Baldock, who died on Wednesday night.
The ex-Sheffield United defender moved to Panathinaikos in the summer and was found dead in the swimming pool of his villa in Athens. There was a minutes silence held at Wembley with both sets of players wearing black armband to honour Baldock.
The 31-year-old had won 12 caps for Greece with several of his former team-mates dealing with the shock news as they prepared to take on England. The visitors were huge underdogs but produced a shock after Bakaseta had rallied his troops before the match.
He said in the dressing room: "We know very well what a team we are and what we have achieved to get here. We have nothing to fear from anyone and we are going to show it from the first minute. We know the peculiarity of the game, many of us know what George means.
"George has always been an example for the team, giving his soul, putting the team above all and even sacrificing his physical integrity. Today in the game will be our example. Each of us will sacrifice ourselves to honour him as he deserves. Let's all be ready."
Baldock's partner sounded the alarm on Wednesday when she was unable to contact him for several hours. Emergency services went over and found the footballer. A post-mortem has confirmed that he drowned but further investigations are ongoing.
Thursday night's match winner, Pavlidis, underlined how Greece were determined to pay tribute to their former team-mate. He said: "It was a really special game for us because of George and of course we gave everything for him and for his family. We just said that we have to play for him. It doesn't matter the score today, we want to play for him and we give everything for him."
Greece manager Ivan Jovanovic added: "The whole team and everyone here has gone through a very difficult 24 hours. It [Baldock's death] is something that shouldn't happen. In times like this, football comes second. He was with us in the dressing room in spirit. He left his mark on the team and that was visible in the way the team played today."
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