Greece force Russia out of Euros: How it happened

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Published time: June 16, 2012 18:42
Edited time: June 17, 2012 01:55

Giorgos Karagounis has put Greece into the Euro 2012 quarterfinals, scoring just before halftime to give the 2004 European champions a 1-0 victory over Russia, and sent Dick Advocaat’s charges packing.

0:31 The game ends with unbelievable result!!! Greece stun Russia to snatch a play-off ticket. The Czech Republic beat Poland to win the group. Greece – second, Russia – third and out of the Euro 2012.

0:30 Russia lock Greece in their box but time is running out and chances of qualifying are fading away.

0:29 Advocaat makes his final substitution. Marat Izmaylov comes on for Aleksandr Anyukov. Russia continues to dominate, having had 21 attempts and 9 shots on goal, but to no avail.

0:20 Russia make another substitution with Pavel Pogrebnyak replacing Glushakov.

0:15 Greece’s Georgios Tzavellas hits the cross-bar from a well-struck free-kick. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic takes lead in the other Group A game, meaning Russia is currently out of the playoffs.

0:12 Karagounis gives the captain's armband to yet another Euro 2004 champion Konstantinos Katsouranis as he is substituted by Grigoris-Evripidis Makos.

0:06 Ignashevich apparently takes Karagounis down in the box, but the referee, Jonas Eriksson, doesn’t award the Greeks a penalty.

23:56 Russia are controlling the ball well, though with very few penetrating passes.

23:45 Second half kicks off. Dick Advocaat replaces Aleksandr Kerzhak ov with Roman Pavlyuchenko.

23:30 GOAL! And the Russians have to pay for their wastefulness as just seconds before the end of the first half Greek captain Georgis Karagounis strikes to give his team a 1-0 halftime lead. It’s all square in the night’s other game as the teams have finished the first half.

23:15 Zenit duo Andrey Arshavin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov press the Greek defense. The latter though continues to squander his chances.

23:00 The National Stadium in Warsaw is awash with the colors of the Russian flag, as more than 30,000 fans from all around the country outnumber the 4,000-strong brigade of Greek supporters. The chant of “Русские вперед!” or “Let’s go Russians!” rarely ceases under the roof of the Warsaw arena.

22:45 After an even start, when both Russia and Greece had a couple of chances to score, Dick Advocaat's charges took control of the game, but haven’t converted any opportunities yet.

22: 40 Russia have to make do without their key central midfielder Konstantin Zyryanov, who went down with a viral infection ahead of the game. Denis Glushakov of Lokomotiv Moscow replaces him.

Going into Saturday’s games, Arshavin and Co were top of the group with four points after two games and a +3 goal difference. So the Russians could have even lost to the Greeks and go through if tournament co-hosts Poland and the Czech Republic had finished level in their match.

Historically, Greece haven’t appeared to be an unsolvable problem for Dick Advocaat’s charges. Until Satureday, Russia has not lost a single game to the Greeks since the start of the century, and has beaten them twice in two previous European Championships.