Greece scored in a dramatic late win to kick out the Ivory Coast out of the Brazil 2014 World Cup at the Estádio Governador Plácido Aderaldo Castelo in Fortaleza.
Ivory Coast before the match needed a draw to progress to the last 16 of the competition but was unable to hold the Greeks as the Europeans saw the Africans off by 2 goals to 1.
Greece took the lead in the first-half after substitute, Andreas Samaris scored through a defensive mistake by Ivorian defender, Cheick Tiote in the 42nd minutes.
But the Africans responded in the second half by scoring in the 74th minutes to draw level pegging through Wilfried Bony after he was set up through an intelligent pass by Gervinho.
The Greeks left it late as Georgios Samaras was adjudged controversially by referee Christian Lescano to have been brought down by Giovanni Sio in 93rd minutes. Samaras confidently stood behind the ball and sent the Ivorian goalkeeper Boubacar Barry to the left while the ball went right.
Greece who started the match from the bottom of the group suffered a series of setback when they had to make two forced substitutions inside the first 24 minutes, including goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis with a back injury but they remarkably showed their courage and determination.
Ivory Coast had the best of the possession but could not convert it into goals as they were dumped off helplessly, sending a wave of disappointment throughout Africa.
Coach Sabri Lamouchi confirmed his resignation from the team and added that he is very disappointed with the team failing to progress to the last 16.
“My contract comes to an end at this World Cup and there will be no epilogue. It is logical as we did not do well at last year’s Africa Cup of Nations or at the World Cup finals.
“The Ivory Coast is a great football nation. And this was a cruel game. After so much hard work and so much sacrifice, all of us and everyone in the Ivory Coast is very sad”, he said.
This results means two out of the five African teams are out of the World Cup. Cameroon has already been eliminated in Group A.
Nigeria takes on Argentina today and they also need a draw just like what the Ivorians needed to advance to the last 16 of the competition.
Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa Sports
Writer’s Email Address: Adamsisska@googlemail.com
