Former Bochum player Vangelis Pavlidis is once again making headlines. This time with Greece, who are putting England in their place in the Nations League.

Vangelis Pavlidis is still a household name in the Ruhr region. He rarely made headlines at VfL Bochum, but in recent years he has repeatedly made waves abroad. Now he has delivered once again for the national team.

The Greek player has played a key role in putting his nation on the verge of winning Nations League Group Two in League B. Greece laid the foundation for this last Thursday, when Pavlidis’ team played away against the favored English side.

The former Bochum player put his Greek team ahead after 49 minutes and also had an answer to Jude Bellingham’s equalizer (87th minute). In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Pavlidis actually scored the 2-1 winner for Greece.

On Sunday, the Greeks followed up with a 2-0 home win against Ireland, this time without a Pavlidis goal. This puts them three points ahead of England. With two games to go, they are in a strong position – thanks in part to Vangelis Pavlidis.

However, Pavlidis was unable to establish himself in the professional ranks of second division club VfL Bochum. “Perhaps he wasn’t technically ready to make an immediate impact in professional football under pressure from opponents,” his former coach Jan Siewert once told 90Plus.

Pavlidis made only four appearances for the VfL professionals and failed to score a single goal. Lacking prospects, Bochum loaned him to Borussia Dortmund’s U23 team and then to Willem II in the Netherlands, where the striker got his career off the ground. Siewert: “In terms of applying his technique under pressure, his composure and precision in front of goal, and his goal-scoring runs, he has taken another step forward in Holland.”

Pavlidis scored 85 goals in 165 appearances in the Eredivisie. Since this summer, he has been playing for Benfica Lisbon in Portugal, where he has scored two goals and provided two assists in nine competitive games.