94th-Minute Greece Winner Wrecks Vincent Van De Horn’s 36/1 Nations League Acca

Vincent Van De Horn came agonisingly close to taking a 36/1 Nations League acca into its final leg on Friday night, only for a 94th-minute Greece winner to turn what had been an excellent evening of tips into a brutal near miss.

The Tutor of Tips had put together four match-result selections: Netherlands v Germany to draw at 11/4, Serbia v Greece to draw at 12/5, Norway to beat Denmark at 4/5 and Poland to beat Bosnia and Herzegovina at 13/20.

With Poland not playing until Friday night, the job on Thursday was to get the opening three selections home and leave an odds-on favourite standing between punters and the 36/1 payout.

For 94 minutes in Belgrade, that was exactly where the acca was heading.

Gakpo Delivers the First Bit of Late Drama

It had already been a night of late goals.

Germany led the Netherlands through Felix Nmecha and were still 1-0 ahead as the match entered stoppage time. Cody Gakpo then struck in the 92nd minute to rescue a 1-1 draw, landing Van De Horn's first selection at a very healthy 11/4.

Norway provided slightly less stress, although their meeting with Denmark was hardly straightforward. Oscar Bobb and Erling Haaland put the hosts 2-0 ahead before Denmark fought back to 2-2, but Haaland's second of the evening in the 74th minute secured a 3-2 Norway victory and landed the 4/5 selection.

Two legs down. One more needed before Poland took centre stage on Friday.

Greece Wait Until the 94th Minute to Ruin It

Serbia made the perfect start against Greece when Andrija Živković scored after just four minutes, but Greece eventually found an equaliser through Christos Tzolis in the 74th.

At 1-1, the 12/5 draw was landing.

The clock reached 90 minutes. Serbia even struck the post. The game moved into added time and Van De Horn was seconds away from having three selections safely home and a 36/1 acca riding entirely on Poland at 13/20.

Then Anastasios Douvikas turned up.

The Greece substitute headed home deep into stoppage time to make it 2-1, with the goal recorded in the 90+4th minute, and the acca disappeared with virtually the final meaningful action of the match.

The Tutor of Tips was understandably gutted:

“Four minutes into injury time. I’d already mentally spent the 36/1 winnings. Greece apparently had other plans for my money.”

It was particularly painful because Van De Horn hadn't needed Greece to produce anything spectacular. By that stage, he just needed them to stop scoring goals for another few seconds.

They couldn't even do him that favour.

Individual Football Tips Still Delivered

The 36/1 acca going down shouldn't disguise what was otherwise a profitable set of selections.

All of the matches included in the accumulator were also covered individually in our football tips, meaning punters weren't reliant on all four results landing to make money from Van De Horn's selections.

Anyone backing the individual tips had the 11/4 Netherlands v Germany draw safely in the book alongside Norway to beat Denmark at 4/5. The Serbia draw was beaten only by that stoppage-time winner, while Poland remain to play on Friday night.

That is ultimately the advantage of following the individual match analysis rather than treating the acca as the only bet. The accumulator offered the eye-catching 36/1 return, but the underlying selections could still produce a profitable night even when one late goal destroyed the multiple.

Now Comes Poland...

There is, of course, one final opportunity for Greece to rub it in.

Poland face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday night as the fourth and final selection from Van De Horn's original acca, priced at 13/20. The fixture is confirmed on UEFA's Nations League schedule.

Should Poland win, Van De Horn will have picked three of the four results correctly, landed two of Thursday's individual selections and missed the full 36/1 acca because Greece scored in the 94th minute.

Sometimes betting really is that cruel.

Fortunately, the Tutor of Tips isn't disappearing to sulk for long. Vincent Van De Horn will be back this weekend with another international acca, looking to turn another round of Nations League action into a big-priced winner.

Preferably this time without Greece scoring after everyone has started putting their coats on.