Euro 2012: Greek grit secures win, knocks out Russia
June 17th, 2012 - 4:09 am ICT by IANSWarsaw, June 17 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A stubborn performance from Greece and a Russian defensive fumble gave Greece an unlikely win and saw Russia eliminated in the group stage Saturday.
Combined with the Czech Republic’s 1-0 win over Poland, the result was enough to send the Czechs and Greeks through to the quarterfinals from Group A.
That came at the expense of a Russia team that had dazzled in its opening 4-1 thrashing of the Czechs but ultimately lacked the mettle to break down a Greece team reminiscent of the defence-first side that won Euro 2004.
With 25 shots to Greece’s five, Russia had chances, but a combination of Greek saves and blocks and simple Russian inaccuracy proved enough to deny them.
Greece scored the only goal of the game on 45 minutes when Sergei Ignashevich misjudged the flight of the ball at a Greek throw-in and Sotiris Karagounis was in behind the Russian defence.
Karagounis, one of two veterans in the team from Greece’s 2004 triumph, finished with a placed shot under Vyacheslav Malafeev to give the Greeks a surprise 1-0 lead.
Greece were unlucky not to get a chance to extend their lead when Karagounis was brought down by Ignashevich in the box, but the referee booked the Greek goalscorer for diving.
Russia charged forward but Alan Dzagoev, Roman Shirokov and Pavel Pogrebnyak all missed chances to equalize.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
snb
- Coach Advocaat proud of Russia despite Euro exit - Jun 17, 2012
- Russia beat Czech Republic 4-1 in Euro 2012 - Jun 09, 2012
- Euro 2012: Polish blast blows Group A wide open - Jun 13, 2012
- Greece too hard to break down: Russia coach - Jun 17, 2012
- Greece victimized by referees at Euro 2012: Karagounis - Jun 17, 2012
- Euro 2012: Russian midfielder Dzagoev asks fans to behave - Jun 16, 2012
- No Twitter ban for Russia at Euros - Jun 03, 2012
- Portugal is Russia's group nemesis - Sep 08, 2012
- Russia's Akinfeev has knee problem: Advocaat - Jun 05, 2012
- Euro 2012: Czechs outpace Greece to earn a 2-1 victory - Jun 13, 2012
- Zenit can win Champions League in two years: Malafeev - Sep 09, 2012
- Arshavin crucial to Russia's success, says Advocaat - Jun 09, 2012
- Ignashevich nervous about club return after Euro failure - Jun 25, 2012
- I expected more from the Poles: Russia's Izmailov - Jun 11, 2012
- Money was not motivator, says Ignashevich - Jul 14, 2012
Tags: czech republic, czechs, euro 2004, euro 2012, fumble, greece, greeks, grit, group stage, inaccuracy, mettle, pavel, quarterfinals, referee, reminiscent, ria novosti, russian defence, snb, vyacheslav, warsaw