Scott Loach produced an inspired display as England Under-21s secured a 1-1 draw against Greece.
Under-21s secure 1-1 draw away to Greece
Goalkeeper Scott Loach produced an inspired display as England Under-21s secured a creditable 1-1 draw against Greece in Tripoli.
Daniel Sturridge fired Stuart Pearce's men into an early lead in their European Championship Group 9 qualifier as the visitors made a confident start.
The hosts hit back and restored parity shortly before the interval when Loach was beaten by Sotiris Ninis' deflected effort.
But the England No.1 then made a string of fine saves to keep out a profligate Greek attack, led by Kostas Mitroglou, to earn a point at the Asteras Tripolis Stadium.
The result means England, beaten 4-0 by Germany in the 2009 finals in June, move up to second in the section - three points behind leaders Greece.
Pearce's side have taken four points from their two matches having beaten Macedonia 2-1 last Friday with Portugal third with three points from their one match played.
Rewarded
England began strongly with 17-year-old Jack Wilshere handed his first start, and the visitors should have been ahead after just three minutes when Sturridge's curling free-kick cracked off the left upright, with James Tomkins blazing the rebound over the crossbar.
The visitors continued to press and they were rewarded with the opening goal two minutes later.
Danny Rose was the architect, intercepting Vasilis Pliatsikas' wayward pass and then turning Kyriakos Papadopoulos before sliding in a low centre which Sturridge gleefully tapped home from close range.
It took Greece 22 minutes to fashion an opening with Olympiakos striker Mitroglou drawing a fine save from Loach with a low snapshot. Loach was called into action again two minutes later, denying Ninis with a brilliant fingertip save.
Sturridge was forced off with what looked like an ankle problem shortly afterwards, with Manchester United's Danny Welbeck replacing the goalscorer.
Levelled
The visitors enjoyed more of the game as the half wore on though, and they levelled five minutes before half-time through good fortune, Arsenal's Kieran Gibbs deflecting Ninis' speculative shot past a helpless Loach after 40 minutes.
England could then have fallen 2-1 behind on the stroke of half-time, but Loach made a superb point-blank save from Dimitris Siovas' header.
Rose wasted England's best chance of the second half, firing wide of the left upright after playing a neat one-two with Jack Rodwell.
Mitroglou was guilty of passing up a golden chance when he intercepted Tomkins' poor pass and advanced on goal, only to be denied by Loach's sprawling save.
The Watford goalkeeper made yet another fine stop four minutes from time, from another Ninis long range effort.
Mitroglou then should have won the match for Greece with two minutes when Loach was finally beaten. The Olympiakos striker rounded the keeper - but hit the side-netting with the goal gaping.
