For Greece, it was history the hard way, but thanks to a stoppage time penalty converted by Georgios Samaras, the former European champions are into their first World Cup knockout round. Beating Boubacar Barry into the right of goal in the 93rd minute, the veteran attacker gave the Greeks a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast, clinching second place in Group C and a spot in the 2014 World Cup’s second round.
Andreas Samaris’s 42nd minute goal allowed Greece to open the scoring after a turnover deep in the Ivorian half saw the Africans pay for a lackluster opening period. Though a more intense Ivory Coast side initially struggled in the second, Wilfried Bony’s 72nd minute equalizer appeared to put the Ivorians into the knockout round.
With a late penalty called on Giovanni Sio, however, Greece was given their chance to make history. With a confident strike past the diving Barry, Samaras booked the nation’s first spot in the final 16, securing the 2-1 win they needed to take second place.
The result sets up Greece for a Sunday meeting against Group D-winning Costa Rica. For the Ivory Coast, the 2014 World Cup ends with three points and a third place finish, marking the third time in as many finals the Western African nation leaves the World Cup after the opening round.
[ RESULTS: Rodriguez carries Colombia | Costa Rica clinches Group D | Uruguay eliminates Italy ]
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An initial 25 minutes with little action was defined my Greek misfortune, with injuries to midfielder Patagionis Kone and goalkeeper Orestis Karnezi forcing head coach Fernando Santos to use his first two substitutions. Despite those changes, the Ivorians were unable to make any progress breaking through the Greek defense, with the first chance of the match coming for José Holebas, who put a 19-yard shot off Barry’s crossbar.
Just before intermission, another transition opportunity allowed the underdogs to take a 1-0 lead. Fed into the right of the Ivory Coast’s penalty area, Samaris, who came on after Kone’s injury, allowed Barry to commit low before chipping the keeper from just inside the box. Taking advantage of a Chieck Tioté turnover, Greece quickly produced the game’s opening goal.
At halftime, the Ivorians found the intensity they lacked over the first 45 minutes, but by the hour mark, les Elephants had only generated one shot on target. Bringing Bony for Tioté just past the hour mark, the Ivorians stepped up their pursuit of an equalizer, but with Greece’s counter forcing desperation fouls from Salomon Kalou (62') and Serey Die (69'), the favorites looked more likely to concede consolation.
In the 74th minute, the inclusion of Bony came good. After a ball played into the left of Greece’s area found Gervinho behind the defense, a pass cut back for the Swansea striker ended up in the back of Patagionis Glykos’s net, the one-timed shot beating the substitute keeper inside the left post to put the Ivornians back on track for the knockout round.
In the third minute of stoppage time, however, les Elephants were knocked off course. After Sio was whistled for taking down Samaras in the penalty area, the veteran forward converted from the spot, beating Barry to put Greece into its first knockout round.
With that one whistle, Ivorian dreams had turned to tragedy, denying the Africans their own piece of World Cup history. With only their second win at a World Cup, the former European Champions have added another big tournament disappointment to the nations’ soccer history.
In the process, Fernando Santos’s team claimed second in Group C, securing an unlikely spot in the tournament’s final 16.
Lineups
Greece: Karnezi (Glykos 24'); Torosidis, Manolas, Papastathopolous, Holebas; Maniatis, Christodoulopoulos, Karagounis (Gekas 78'), Kone (Samaris 12'), Salpingidis; Samaras
Goals: Samaris 42', Samaras 93'
Ivory Coast: Barry; Aurier, K. Touré, Bamba, Boka; Tioté (Bony 61'), Die, Y. Touré; Kalou, Drogba (Diomande 78'), Gervinho (Sio 83')
Goals: Bony 74'