Greece head for South Africa 2010
The benefit of keeping a clean sheet in the home leg and scoring away has once again been proved.
Greece are heading to their second ever World Cup, with South Africa 2010 following on from USA 94, where they were put to the sword by Argentina and Diego Maradona.
Thanks to CadenWolves
A tremendous 1-0 triumph away to Slovenia sees Greece book their place at the top table of world football and it was managed with the similar precision and attention to detail that saw them triumphant in Portugal 2004 and the European Championships.
The goal came as the match was creeping towards half-time and not only did it give Greece the lead, it gave Ukraine with a monumental task to turn around in the second half. The Celtic striker Giorgios Samaras, a player who has flitted between brilliant and atrocious for the past year, fed in Dimitrios Salpingidis to give Greece the crucial lead. The Ukrainians looked for an offside flag to offer a reprieve but the goal stood as Greek supporters all around the world were starting to dream of where they would be next summer.
The second half started with the Ukraine knowing they would need two goals to qualify and as you would expect, they set out to lay siege to the Greece goal. For all that Ukraine have a number of world class players like Shevchenko and Tymoschuk in their line-up but they have been laborious throughout the campaign and not many of their fans can state they are deserving of a place at the World Cup.
Regardless of a nervy second half, Greece managed to keep their clean sheet, resulting in a 1-0 aggregate score and the chance to make their mark on the World Cup. It is not likely that Greece will replicate their astounding success at Euro 2004 but if these two games proved, goals are not easy to come by against the Greek team.
Congratulations to Greece for joining the line-up at South Africa 2010.
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