Greece 2-1 Ivory Coast: Five talking points

With the World Cup group stage drawing to a close, it was the turn of Greece and Ivory Coast to face 90-plus minutes of nail-biting football before discovering their fate.Playing in tandem with the Colombia-Japan match, Fernando Santos charges knew the pressure was on them to grab a win nothing else would do, otherwise theyd be dumped out whereas, Sabri Lamouchis Ivory Coast simply had to draw in order to go through. It couldnt have been more finely poised and boy, was it an entertaining duel.But in the end, it was Greece who emerged victorious on the night, securing a dramatic last-minute victory against all the odds.Here are some of the major talking points from the match.

#1 Greece earn historic last-16 appearance

In a match that started quite slowly and without much energy, it didn’t look as though either side had the stomach or the stamina to fight tooth and nail for the result they needed.

A number of refereeing stoppages took the sting out of the contest in the opening exchanges as the battle sputtered to a slow start.

In particular, Greece’s no.1 shot-stopper, Orestis Karnezis had to withdraw due to injury after receiving lengthy treatment due to an apparent back injury, and with that there was little room for either side to build the momentum they needed.

But it was Greece who struck first through the boot of Andreas Samaris after he was played through by the talismanic Georgios Samaras on the counter. Coming late in the first half, it gave the team on top the reward they richly deserved. 

From there, the onus was placed firmly on Ivory Coast to fight back, but it was Santos’ men who deserved the win and it was they who looked the most lively – Jose Holebas’ ferocious shot that pinged off the crossbar early on, a prime example of the threat they carried in front of goal. 

The never-say-die attitude of an industrious Greek team was encapsulated perfectly by Samaras’ late, late spot-kick to secure a historic win,