Brazil 2014 has thrown up its share of surprises, but one of the greatest surprises so far had roughly 400,000 Greek Australians jumping for joy.
I’m talking of course about Greece making it past the group stage, progress that appeared near impossible heading into the clash with Côte d’Ivoire.
Having only just scraped through qualification, Greece got their World Cup campaign off to a poor start with a demoralising 3-0 loss to the tournament’s dark horses Colombia.
Following this was a 0-0 draw with a lacklustre Japan, who despite having an extra man the entire second half, failed to grab the win. This in itself was a significant achievement for Greece.
Getting up on Wednesday morning, I struggled to see Greece securing a result, let alone a goal from their final match with Côte d’Ivoire. Failing to score a goal all competition and rather bland in attack, I was beyond surprised when Andreas Samaris scored Greece’s first goal of the tournament in the 42nd minute, albeit off a mistake from Ivorian and Newcastle player Cheick Tiote in midfield.
As was expected by Côte d’Ivoire, just needing a draw to qualify, they came out in the second half desperate for a goal. Boasting a superior attacking force, with the likes of Yaya Toure, Wilfried Bony, Gervinho and Didier Drogba, they inevitably secured a goal against a rather flimsy Greece defence.
With just minutes remaining, Côte d’Ivoire threatened to score another goal before in the 93rd minute Greek striker Georgios Samaras won a contentious penalty. Tripping over his own two feet, Samaras went down with a clip from an Ivorian enough for the referee to award the penalty.
Having claimed the penalty, it was Samaras who took the penalty kick, and powered a strike past an outstretched Ivorian keeper, who had gone the right way.
Just like that, Greece made it through to the knockout phase of the World Cup, where heavyweights like Spain and Italy failed.
The miracle came form a Greece team in a similar state to that of the Socceroos – in the midst of their own regeneration. They have long relied on veteran midfielder Giorgos Karagounis and at this World Cup have been similarly forced to thrust forward their up-and-coming stars. Yet, unlike the Socceroos, the Greeks have claimed four points and made an unlikely progression to the knock-out phase.
This group stage triumph follows their glorious win in Euro 2004, where they claimed the scalps of both Portugal and France. It seems only fitting that a decade on from this success, they back it up with their first-ever progression to the knockout phase of the World Cup.
Facing a white-hot Costa Rica, a win in their round of 16 clash is going to be tough but possibly less so than group winners Colombia, who now face Uruguay.
Perhaps another phenomenal Greek footballing run is on the cards at this World Cup. With a passionate bunch of Greeks around me, I for one am hoping the cards fall kindly for a Greece team who truly embody the term underdog.
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