Greece beats Armenia 1-0 in Euro 2012 warmup

Greece beats Armenia 1-0 in Euro 2012 warmup

Published May. 31, 2012 10:08 p.m. ET

Kyriakos Papadopoulos scored with a first-half header as Greece beat Armenia 1-0 in a warmup match for the European Championship on Thursday.

Armenia goalkeeper Roman Berezovki saved two penalties.

The Greeks had a run of early chances before Papadopoulos put a powerful header past Berezovki in the 23rd minute, meeting a free kick from Giorgos Karagounis.

Greece hung on in the second half when the Armenians stepped up their attack.

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Greece coach Fernando Santos made three substitutions in the 61st minute that unsettled his defense. Marcos Pizzelli shot over the bar in the 68th, and the Armenians pushed forward for the rest of the match.

Armenia captain Sargis Hovsepyan shoved Georgios Samaras in the area, but the striker failed to convert the spot kick in the 71st because of an impressive save by Berezovki.

The keeper struck again in the 85th, blocking a penalty shot from Costas Katsouranis.

''I was happy with the first 30 minutes and it looked like the training had paid off for the players,'' Santos said. ''We had to make lots of changes in the second half, to rest some players and try others out and that affected team organization - but overall, I'm pleased with what I saw.''

He said he was not concerned with the two penalty saves.

''Sometimes you score and sometimes you don't,'' he said. ''Let's hope we'll get our penalties in when we really have to.''

Greece open Euro 2012 against Poland in eight days.

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