2010 World Cup: Greece v Argentina full time report
Greece 0 Argentina 2
A much-changed Argentina eventually overcame an ultra-defensive Greece in Polokwane, securing top spot in Group B.
Late goals from Martín Demichelis and veteran striker Martín Palermo saw off an extremely cautious Greek side, who now exit the tournament due to South Korea’s point in Durban.
Greece boss Otto Rehhagel handed Sokratis Papastathopoulos the unenviable task of man-marking Argentina’s captain for the night Lionel Messi, an indication of the approach of his team, and despite Diego Maradona’s side – which showed seven changes from the 4-1 win over South Korea – dominating possession, they struggled to create chances against Greece’s blanket defence in the early stages.
Eventually, both Sergio Agüero and Juan Sebastián Verón tested goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas in quick succession, the former with a left footed effort after an excellent driving run and the latter with a powerful drive from long range, before Mario Bolatti just failed to connect with a driven Verón cross.
Tzorvas then failed to deal with a Diego Milito cross, forcing Loukas Vyntra into a superb last ditch block to deny Agüero, and while Greece offered little going forward, their lone striker Georgios Samaras was lively.
Argentina stepped it up in the closing moments of the half, and Maxi Rodríguez saw a left-footed effort well saved by Tzorvas, who then tipped over a long-range Messi effort.
Samaras missed a glorious chance shortly after the break as, after holding off both Nicolás Burdisso and Martín Demichelis, he saw a first effort blocked by the former, before driving a left footed rebound wide with the goal at his mercy. Moments later, he smashed an effort wide after yet more impressive forward play.
Argentina were still dominating possession though, and left back Clemente Rodríguez fired a right footed effort wide, before Messi’s free kick was saved by Tzorvas, who then somehow held onto Bolatti’s powerful driven effort from point blank range.
A mix-up between Tzorvas and Vangelis Moras almost resulted in a bizarre own goal, before a last ditch interception from Greek captain Sotirios Krygiakos denied Milito.
A goal was on imminent though, and from the corner, Demichelis’ initial header rebounded back off Milito, before the Bayern Munich centre back smashed in the follow up with his left foot from six yards out. There were only 13 minutes remaining.
Messi almost doubled the advantage with a sublime piece of brilliance that ended with a left footed shot that smashed back off the post, before yet more superb play from the World Player of the Year resulted in an effort that was saved by Tzorvas, only for 36-year-old substitute Palermo to gobble up the rebound gleefully.
Twenty four years to the day since Maradona scored his infamous “Hand of God” goal against England – and the rather more aesthetically pleasing second – the 90th minute strike was a just reward for his side, who stuck to their task manfully, and now face Mexico in the last 16.
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