Dimitrios Pelkas: Greece did not want to play after death of George Baldock

Midfielder Dimitrios Pelkas said Greece did not want to play their Nations League game with England following the death of George Baldock but forced themselves to win in his honour.

Former Sheffield United defender Baldock died at the age of 31 after drowning in his swimming pool in Athens.

He won 12 caps for Greece, after being eligible to represent them through his grandmother and was last involved in their squad for the Euro 2024 play-off defeat to Georgia.

Greece paid tribute to their team-mate in the best possible way as they beat England for the first time with a stunning 2-1 victory at Wembley, with Evangelos Pavlidis scoring a winner in stoppage time.

Pelkas, who came off the bench, said his side did not want to play but could not postpone the game because there was no room in the calendar to rearrange.

“It is like this, rules are rules, UEFA don’t have another opportunity to play this game so we played today,” he said. “We give this win to him.

“When these things happen in life, football is the second part. The most important thing is that our friend George passed away.

“We will never forget him, I was sure today that he would be with us from upstairs and he would celebrate with us and force us to take this victory.

“I don’t want to speak about football, yesterday was very hard for all of us, we couldn’t speak, we couldn’t laugh, we couldn’t eat in the hotel.

“It was a really hard day. I want to send my condolences to his family, for them it is the most difficult period.

“It was really difficult, it was one of us, he was an excellent guy, it is like he was with us from a very young age.”

UEFA has been contacted for comment by the PA news agency.

Sheffield United owner Prince Abdullah and chairman Yusuf Giansiracusa paid tribute to Baldock on Friday morning.

“Like all Blades, we received the news of George Baldock’s tragic and premature passing with overwhelming sadness,” a statement read.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, as well as his friends and all who knew him, not least the Sheffield United family.

“George played every minute on the pitch with passion, commitment and the ability associated with our football club and his role in our campaigns to achieve two promotions will live long in our memories and the history of the club.

“George served United with distinction – he remains a Blade.”

Baldock progressed through first club MK Dons’ academy and they also paid tribute to their former player.

Dons’ head coach Scott Lindsey said in a video posted on social media: “All our thoughts go to his family. It’s really, really sad news.

“I had the pleasure of coaching George myself. He came to Tamworth on loan from MK Dons and I was the assistant manager at the time and you could see he was going to have a really bright future in the game.

“An of course he did. He went on to play at the top level and was outstanding throughout his career.

“It’s really sad news. All our thoughts from the football club go to his family and friends.”