A last-gasp goal by Vasilis Torosidis gave Greece a crucial 1-0 win over Malta on Saturday in EURO 2012 qualifying.
A stubborn defensive display by the hosts almost saw Malta, ranked 163rd in the FIFA Rankings, earn a hard-fought point against the Greeks, but late intervention by Torosidis who headed home with the last kick of the game four minutes into injury time saw Greece escape the Ta’Qali National Stadium with a 1-0 victory.
The win put Fernando Santos’ team atop Group F in EURO 2012 qualifying as Greece have amassed 11 points from five matches in the section. The Greeks took advantage of a Croatia defeat to Georgia earlier in the day meaning that Greece now are the pace-setters in the group halfway through the campaign.
Malta showed their intentions to cause an upset early on. John Buttigieg’s side displayed fine organization in the opening 45 minutes as Greece barely threatened in the first half. All that Santos’ charges had to show for their efforts was a couple of half-chances that were handled quite comfortably by Maltese goalkeeper Justin Haber.
Santos’ teamtalk at halftime must have had the desired effect as Greece appeared to be a totally rejuvenated outfit after the break. The team were suddenly attacking with more creativity and verve and it was no surprise that Haber was called into action to save efforts from Dimitris Salpingidis and Torosidis in a superb ten minute spell after the break by the away side that also featured a Nikos Lymberopoulos header that came back off the post.
Still, Greece could not find a breakthrough and though Santos attempted to mix it up by throwing on three offensive-minded players in Yiannis Fetfatzidis, Kostas Mitroglou, and Panagiotis Kone, Malta were holding firm at the back riding the impressive display of Haber and putting forth a committed defensive performance.
When AC Milan’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off in the 84th minute with a straight red card for a tackle on Daniel Bogdanovic it appeared like an upset was in the making. However even though Haber saved a fine header by Mitroglou late on, the Greeks saved the best for last. From a Giorgos Karagounis free-kick, Torosidis nodded in a close range header after Mitroglou had latched onto a clearance and Greece found an improbable winner in dramatic circumstances.
The result puts Greece in the driver’s seat in Group F and with the prospect of a home match against Croatia still to come, Santos’ team are now the favorites to qualify for EURO 2012. Malta meanwhile were extremely unlucky not to have claimed their first point of the campaign as they have now lost their fifth match in a row in Group F play, though they have proven to be a much-improved side under manager Buttigieg.
The win put Fernando Santos’ team atop Group F in EURO 2012 qualifying as Greece have amassed 11 points from five matches in the section. The Greeks took advantage of a Croatia defeat to Georgia earlier in the day meaning that Greece now are the pace-setters in the group halfway through the campaign.
Malta showed their intentions to cause an upset early on. John Buttigieg’s side displayed fine organization in the opening 45 minutes as Greece barely threatened in the first half. All that Santos’ charges had to show for their efforts was a couple of half-chances that were handled quite comfortably by Maltese goalkeeper Justin Haber.
Santos’ teamtalk at halftime must have had the desired effect as Greece appeared to be a totally rejuvenated outfit after the break. The team were suddenly attacking with more creativity and verve and it was no surprise that Haber was called into action to save efforts from Dimitris Salpingidis and Torosidis in a superb ten minute spell after the break by the away side that also featured a Nikos Lymberopoulos header that came back off the post.
Still, Greece could not find a breakthrough and though Santos attempted to mix it up by throwing on three offensive-minded players in Yiannis Fetfatzidis, Kostas Mitroglou, and Panagiotis Kone, Malta were holding firm at the back riding the impressive display of Haber and putting forth a committed defensive performance.
When AC Milan’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off in the 84th minute with a straight red card for a tackle on Daniel Bogdanovic it appeared like an upset was in the making. However even though Haber saved a fine header by Mitroglou late on, the Greeks saved the best for last. From a Giorgos Karagounis free-kick, Torosidis nodded in a close range header after Mitroglou had latched onto a clearance and Greece found an improbable winner in dramatic circumstances.
The result puts Greece in the driver’s seat in Group F and with the prospect of a home match against Croatia still to come, Santos’ team are now the favorites to qualify for EURO 2012. Malta meanwhile were extremely unlucky not to have claimed their first point of the campaign as they have now lost their fifth match in a row in Group F play, though they have proven to be a much-improved side under manager Buttigieg.
