Greece advanced to the Round of 16 after Georgios Samaras converted a penalty in stoppage time.
Greece advanced to the Round of 16 thanks to a stoppage time penalty that gave them a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast. Wilfried Bony appeared to be the hero of the match after equalizing for Les Éléphants in the 74th minute, but a soft penalty call in stoppage time allowed Georgios Samaras to win the match for the Greeks.
With the match tied at 1-1, Greece earned a penalty in the 91st minute when Giovanni Sio clipped Samaras ever so slightly as the Greek striker prepared to take a shot. Samaras stepped up and fired successfully.
DRAMATIC MOMENT
The match didn't get off to a particularly great start for Greece. They were forced to make a substation in the 12th minute when Panagiotis Kone appeared to tweak a hamstring and couldn't continue, forcing Andreas Samaris into action off the bench.
The Ivory Coast generated a great chance in the 24th minute when Yaya Touré split defenders at the top of the box and put a quick pass in for Didier Drogba. The pass was a bit heavy though, and the striker was unable to get a shot off on the play. During the play, Greek goalkeeperOrestis Karnezis, who had injured his back or side earlier in the half, struggled to cover the play and was forced to leave the match, putting Greece in the odd position of having to use their second sub before the half hour mark.
José Holebas came inches away from putting Greece in front in the 33rd minute when his shot hammered off the crossbar. With Ivory Coast pushing numbers forward, the Greeks were able to get a counterattack chance, working the ball from left to right to Holebas, who got around his marker and took a shot from 20 yards out that beat Boubacar Barry but was denied by the woodwork.
In the 42nd minute, Greece took advantage of a poor giveaway in the midfield and took a 1-0 lead. Cheick Tiote was to blame for a terrible pass that was intercepted easily by Andreas Samaris, who played a quick one-two with Samaras to freeze the defender and then raced into the Ivory Coast box. Barry went down too early, allowing Samaris to chip the ball over him.
Tiote tried to make up for his mistake in the 50th minute, but a long range effort at the end of a multi-pass buildup by the Ivory Coast was stopped by Panagiotis Glykos.
Georgios Karagounis came ever so close to doubling Greece's lead in the 68th minute when he hammered a curving shot past Barry and off the crossbar.
Just when it looked like Greece might hold on, the Ivory Coast pulled even in the 74th minute when Touré's long pass found Gervinho as he moved into the box. Gervinho could have taken the shot himself, but he instead centered the ball to Bony, who tapped it in past Glykos to even the match at 1-1.
Greece: Karnezis (Glykos 24'), Holebas, Papastathopoulos, Manolas, Torosidis, Kone (Samaris 12'), Karagounis (Gekas 77'), Maniatis, Salpingidis, Samaras, Christodoulopoulos.
Goals: Samaris (42'), Samaras (93')
Cote d'Ivoire: Barry, Boka, Bamba, K. Touré, Aurier, Tiote (Bont 61'), Die, Y. Touré, Gervinho (Sio 83'), Drogba (Diamonde 79'), Kalou
Goals: Bony (74')
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