Greece beat 10-man Nigeria 2-1 in a thrilling encounter on Thursday to record their first ever victory at a World Cup finals and keep their tournament hopes alive.
The Euro 2004 champions, who had lost all three matches in the 1994 finals and then went down to South Korea in their opening group match, knew that defeat would end their hopes in South Africa and they fell behind early on.
A sending off for Nigeria’s Sani Kaita after 33 minutes changed the game, however, and goals from Dimitrios Salpingidis and Vasileios Torosidis sealed the win at Bloemfontein’s Free State Stadium.
Greece coach Otto Rehhagel said he was delighted to have registered the first ever point for the nation at a World Cup.
He said he was disappointed to concede an early goal, but said: “We were able to stand up against it and get the game under control.”
Greece must now tackle table-topping Argentina in their concluding group game.
Disappointed Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback described the sending off incident that defined the match as “very strange.”
“We started the match quite well and I think we controlled the game. We got the goal, then you have the sending off and we had some problems,” he said. “With the circumstances, I’m proud of the attitude and the work that the players put into the second half.”
Nigeria broke the deadlock on 16 minutes through midfielder Kalu Uche, who swung in a free-kick from near the left corner of the penalty area that eluded everyone and crept in past a bemused Alexandros Tzorvas.
The Super Eagles’ hopes took a major hit, however, when Kaita was sent off after kicking out at Torosidis, the Nigerian leaving the pitch in tears.
As halftime approached, Rehhagel threw on forward Georgios Samaras for defensive midfielder Sokratis Papastathopoulos as the Greeks, renowned for their defensive-minded play, seized the initiative.
The pressure paid off when Salpingidis netted Greece’s first ever goal in a World Cup finals after his shot deflected into the net off Nigeria’s Lukman Haruna to make it 1-1 at halftime.
Nigeria took off Peter Odemwingie for Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi at the beginning of the second half, which started in lively fashion with both sides threatening.
With less than 10 minutes gone in the second period, the Africa side were forced into another substitution when Uwa Echiejile replaced the injured Taye Taiwo.
As the second half wore on, the game became stretched and in a dramatic spell Theofanis Gekas was denied by Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama, before Nigeria raced upfield with Yakubu Ayegbeni forcing Tzorvas into a smart save and Obasi missing a clear follow-up chance.
Then, minutes after pulling off a wonderful save, Enyeama spilled a powerful shot by Alexandros Tziolis and Torosidis smashed in the rebound from close range, sealing the win.
Despite the defeat, the Super Eagles retain a mathematical chance of reaching the knockout stages.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB