Greece beat 10-man Nigeria 2-1 in a thrilling encounter on Thursday to record their first ever victory at a World Cup finals and keep their tournament hopes alive.
The Euro 2004 champions, who had lost all three matches in the 1994 finals and then went down to South Korea in their opening group match, knew that defeat would end their hopes in South Africa and they fell behind early on.
A sending off for Nigeria’s Sani Kaita after 33 minutes changed the game, however, and goals from Dimitrios Salpingidis and Vasileios Torosidis sealed the win at Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium.
Greece coach Otto Rehhagel said he was delighted to have registered the first ever point for the nation at a World Cup.
He said he was disappointed to concede an early goal, but said: “We were able to stand up against it and get the game under control.”
Greece must now tackle table-topping Argentina in their concluding group game.
Disappointed Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback described the sending off incident that defined the match as “very strange.”
“We started the match quite well and I think we controlled the game. We got the goal, then you have the sending off and we had some problems,” he said. “With the circumstances, I’m proud of the attitude and the work that the players put into the second half.”
Nigeria broke the deadlock on 16 minutes through midfielder Kalu Uche, who swung in a free-kick from near the left corner of the penalty area that eluded everyone and crept in past a bemused Alexandros Tzorvas.
The Super Eagles’ hopes took a major hit, however, when Kaita was sent off after kicking out at Torosidis, the Nigerian leaving the pitch in tears.
As halftime approached, Rehhagel threw on forward Georgios Samaras for defensive midfielder Sokratis Papastathopoulos as the Greeks, renowned for their defensive-minded play, seized the initiative.
The pressure paid off when Salpingidis netted Greece’s first ever goal in a World Cup finals after his shot deflected into the net off Nigeria’s Lukman Haruna to make it 1-1 at halftime.
Nigeria took off Peter Odemwingie for Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi at the beginning of the second half, which started in lively fashion with both sides threatening.
With less than 10 minutes gone in the second period, the Africa side were forced into another substitution when Uwa Echiejile replaced the injured Taye Taiwo.
As the second half wore on, the game became stretched and in a dramatic spell Theofanis Gekas was denied by Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, before Nigeria raced upfield with Yakubu Ayegbeni forcing Tzorvas into a smart save and Obasi missing a clear follow-up chance.
Then, minutes after pulling off a wonderful save, Enyeama spilled a powerful shot by Alexandros Tziolis and Torosidis smashed in the rebound from close range, sealing the win.
Despite the defeat, the Super Eagles retain a mathematical chance of reaching the knockout stages.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
RSS