Greece 1-0 Russia: Stubborn Greece send Russia home with Warsaw victory

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Captain Giorgios Karagounis shows his delight at scoring against Russia in Warsaw© REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Greece's dramatic lead in the second minute of first half injury time in Warsaw was enough to win the match, and a place in the quarter finals.

The stakes were high as a victory for either team would see them through Group A. Greece had taken just one point from two games while Russia had caught the eye of many fans with a 4-1 victory against Czech Republic, and were well fancied to make the knock-out stages.

The Russians had dominated the majority of the first half but met a defiant Greek backline which snuffed out the attacks around the penalty area.

The best effort of the half came from Aleksandr Kerzhakov, who saw a half volley from 20 yards whistle past the far post.

The Greeks landed a sucker punched with just seconds left until half time. Captain Giorgios Karagounis latched on to a quick throw and rifled a finish beyond Vyachelsav Malafeev.

With Russia stretching the game in need of a goal in the second half, Greece sat in and hit them on the break. Georgios Samaras troubled Dick Advocaat's team with tireless running and the men in white grew in confidence as Russia ran out of ideas.

Karagounis should have been awarded a penalty kick when he was tripped and felled in the box, but Swedish official Jonas Eriksson instead produced a yellow card for simulation for the Panathinaikos midfielder.

Wayward efforts from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Pavel Pogrebnyak summed up Russia's day and they were unable to fight their way back into the match, or the tournament.

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