The Greek national football team has triumphantly progressed to the next round of the World Cup in Brazil after defeating Ivory Coast 2-1 on Tuesday evening, while Columbia trounced Japan 4-1.
Fernando Santos’ squad was somewhat unlucky at the start of the game, with goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis and midfielder Panagiotis Kone having to be substituted early on. Despite these setbacks though, Panagiotis Glykos and Andreas Samaris quickly got into the game.
As the game progressed Greece began to play more offensively, with Jose Cholebas hitting the crossbar (33’) and Giorgos Karagounis missing a free kick opportunity outside the penalty box a couple minutes later. Near the end of the first half though, Giorgos Samaras and Andreas Samaris changed the ball beautifully, with Samaris scoring his first goal in a World Cup.
Greece tried to keep up a similar pace in the second half, missing good opportunities with Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (54’) and Vasilis Torosidis (61’), while Giorgos Karagounis hit the crossbar (68’). The Ivorians managed to even the score shortly after, with Wilfried Bony (74’), putting the African team back into the game.
Despite the equalizer though, Greece persisted and Torosidis hit the crossbar (80’), the third time for Greece. In the dying moments of the game though and with Ivory Coast set to progress to the next round, Giorgos Samaras was tripped over in the box and was granted a penalty kick (93’). The Celtic striker did not waste the opportunity and was later declared MVP.
Greece will now face Costa Rica on Sunday (11pm, NERIT) for the knock out round, with the winner of the game being paired up against Holland or Mexico.
