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.
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