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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Game 40 Recap: Greece 2-1 Ivory Coast

GREECE 2-1 IVORY COAST


On the brink of advancing to the knockout round for the first time ever, Ivory Coast lost in shocking fashion in injury time to Greece. In the process, Greece advanced to the knockout stage for the first ever time in their history.

Greece's 2 goals were there only tallies of the entire tournament and their last came late under controversial circumstances.

It was an inauspicious start for the Greek side. Needing a victory to advance, Greece saw Panagiotis Kone go down early to injury, followed shortly after by goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. Both players had to be substituted early in the game and it appeared Greece had nothing going for them in this contest.

Not an offensive juggernaut, as the game progressed Greece appeared to get more comfortable and gained confidence that they could indeed get forward and attack the Ivory Coast defenders. They nearly saw their aggressiveness pay off in the 33rd minute when left back Jose Holebas joined the rush and rang a great strike from outside the area off the crossbar.

Greece would make no mistake in the 42nd minute though. Capitalizing on a Cheick Tiote giveaway, Giorgos Samaras played the ball through to Andreas Samaris who put it over Boubacar Barry for the opening goal. It was a surprise 1-0 halftime lead for Greece, courtesy of Samaris, only in the game as a substitute for Kone.

With the lead they sought, Greece fell back in to the defensive formation that has given opponents fits for years. Ivory Coast were no different, repeatedly finding their attempts to penetrate in on goal turned away. Greece refused to back down though. Giorgos Karagounis sent a 30 yard missile off the post and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos sent a dipping shot just over the crossbar.

But the Ivory Coast pressure continued and eventually allowed them to draw level with the Greeks. Brilliant individual play from Salomon Kalou to beat 3 defenders resulted in a partial breakaway for Gervinho and Wilfried Bony. Gervinho calmly slid the ball across to Bony who one-timed it home to tie the game and put Ivory Coast in position to advance.

Greece pushed forward as hard as they could and inexplicably, the Ivory Coast did not maintain their defensive shape or put numbers back. Whether it was poor discipline or poor effort, that fact came back to haunt Ivory Coast.

In injury time, the ball was sent in to the penalty area and Samaras' shot was thwarted by Giovanni Sio getting his leg caught up with Samaras. It appeared to be incidental contact possibly but the referee determined it was a foul and awarded Greece a penalty kick. With no time remaining after the kick, second place in the group would be determined by the result of the resulting shot. Barry guessed right in goal but the 5'11" goalkeeper could not get far enough to get hands on the Samaras shot and Greece picked up the improbable 2-1 victory and advance to face Costa Rica in the Round of 16.

Goals

Greece: Andreas Samaris (42'), Giorgos Samaras (90+3')
Ivory Coast: Wilfried Bony (74')

Discipline

Greece: N/A
Ivory Coast: Didier Drogba (Yellow 37'), Salomon Kalou (Yellow 62'), Serey Die (Yellow 70')

Man of the Match

Giorgos Samaras is the Man of the Match. Samaras was involved in both Greek goals, assisting the first one and burying the injury time penalty kick to send Greece through to the knockout round. Whether the penalty kick was warranted or not, it was a great strike by Samaras under unbelievable pressure.

Key Moment

Came right at the end of the game. With Ivory Coast in a position to advance to the knockout round for the first time, Giovanni Sio got his feet in to those of Samaras who went down in the penalty area. The referee awarded the penalty kick and Samaras struck the ball in to the Ivorian goal just beyond the fingers of the diving Boubacar Barry. It was the last play of the game and sent Greece in to the Round of 16 instead of Ivory Coast who will be absolutely crushed.

What we learned from Greece

This was the one team in the group they had a legitimate chance to get offence going against and they took advantage of that. Didn't extend themselves forward too much but picked their spots to attack wisely. Had some shaky parts in their own penalty area and appeared to struggle with the size of the Ivorian players. Have Greece next so shouldn't have to worry too much about that. Not sure how Greece will ever score against the Costa Rican defence though.

What we learned from Ivory Coast

They love to attack, in this game to a fault. Afforded Greece way too many odd-man rushes even when Ivory Coast were in an advancement position. There's a difference between defensive responsibility and parking the bus. I applaud them for not doing the latter this game when they could have but there was no reason Greece should have been getting fast breaks at the end of the game. They'll feel cheated by the referee's decision, but they could have avoided that situation altogether.

Going Forward 

Absolutely crushing for Ivory Coast. 3 straight World Cup appearances, and 3 straight group stage exits. The manner in which they lost this one is by far the worst exit yet for them. Players like Drogba and the Toure's aren't likely to be back next time around, and Ivory Coast will have to feel they have missed an opportunity as their golden generation disappears in to the sunset.

How in the world is Greece in the Round of 16? They looked down and out in their first 2 games and then lost 2 players to injury in the first 20 minutes of this contest. Their only 2 group stage goals later, they have a date in the knockout round against the most favourable opponent they could have asked for. It's Greece's first ever trip to the knockout round, and with Costa Rica on deck, Greece may like their chances of going even further.

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