Midfielder Giannis Maniatis scored a spectacular long-range goal as Greece beat Australia for the time in 38 years in Melbourne yesterday.
Greece won 2-1, with Olympiakos midfielder Maniatis netting a stunning goal over the head of stranded Australia goalkeeper Adam Federici in the first half.
Greece took the game to the Socceroos from the kickoff and found the net after just eight minutes against a sluggish home defense.
Photo: AFP
Mark Milligan was dispossessed deep inside Greece’s attacking half and SL Benfica’s Andreas Samaris gave AEK midfielder Petros Mantalos space on the right.
Mantalos beat Federici into the bottom left corner for his first international goal.
However, it was Maniatis who left Federici red-faced when he spotted the home goalkeeper well off his line. His lob from well inside his own half bounced into the net for a stunning goal and a 2-0 lead after 21 minutes.
The Socceroos went in at halftime two goals down, their worst half since Ange Postecoglou took over as coach.
Greece were a far different proposition than during their tentative 1-0 loss to Australia in Sydney on Saturday.
Defender Trent Sainsbury pulled a goal back for the Socceroos 13 minutes after the resumption when skipper Tim Cahill headed on Aaron Mooy’s corner and Sainsbury headed home from close range.
However, Greece could not be denied their first win over Australia since a 1-0 victory in Adelaide in 1978.
It was Australia’s first home defeat since losing to Kuwait in 2009.
“They got a jump on us and we didn’t react well particularly in the first half, we got sucked into playing their game a little bit,” Postecoglou said. “We became frustrated, we gave away silly fouls and diving in and we lost our composure. From there we were chasing the game. It was always going to be difficult to get back into it. Yeah, it was disappointing.”
It was Australia’s final match before their opening Asian World Cup qualifying game against Iraq at home on Sept. 1.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later