Greece completed its group stage qualifying matches with a 2-0 victory against Lichtenstein, but was unable to secure the top place in the group after Bosnia beat Lithuania.
Fernando Santos’ squad took an early lead in the game after a play by José Holebas and Giorgos Samaras allowed striker Dimitris Salpingidis to score a goal at the 7th minute. Greece retreated shortly afterwards, thus allowing Lichtenstein the opportunity to tie the game. Lichtenstein had two great opportunities to tie the match in the 20th minute, but keeper Orestis Karnezis was on top performance.
The second half was more or less the same, with the team from Lichtenstein focusing on defense and intercepting the Greek offensive efforts. On the other side, Greece seemed content with the 1-0 lead and did not try anything dramatic. Salpingidis had another opportunity to score a goal at the 59th minute of the game, followed by missed opportunities by Dimitris Siovas and Andreas Samaris around the 70th minute of the game.
Team veteran Giorgos Karagounis finally secured the victory for Greece by scoring a beautiful goal from a free kick, which hit the left crossbar before bouncing the Lichtenstein keeper’s back. Greece will now compete against one of France, Portugal, Ukraine, Sweden, Iceland, Romania, Croatia and Denmark for one of four remaining World Cup tickets.
