Greece was so unimpressive in their opener that I dare say not much is expected of them the rest of the tournament. Today’s a chance for them to change some minds.
Nope, my mind’s not changed. Nigeria puts a free kick from distance right past the Greek keeper who was distracted by a flashing forward (or perhaps a shiny coin). Man that was awful. 1-0 Nigeria.
The Greek keeper gives up an unnecessary corner. Not a good opening 20 minutes for him.
Nigerian player gets stupid in the 33rd minute and gets himself tossed with a straight red for virtually no reason whatsoever. What in God’s name could he have been thinking? (Answer is likely: Wasn’t.) Well, that’ll give Greece a chance, playing 11 v. 10 for almost the next hour. It’s probably the type of odds they need, frankly.
Greece is getting a fair amount of pressure, as one would hope and expect, but with nothing to show for it so far. Then in the 42nd minute a shot caroms off a defender and into the net. 1-1 and improbably, Greece has a good chance—given that they’ve got the whole second half, to win this game. That red card is huge.
End to end action in the 13th minute of the 2nd. Greek shot saved at point blank after a terrible clearance then Nigeria runs a great quick counter attack which is saved (props to the Greek keeper on that one) with the follow-up shot, which should have been made, missed wide.
Great save by the Nigeria keeper in the 23rd minute of the 2nd! Dude has hops.
Greece gets one in the 26th minute of the second. Keeper blocked the first shot, but it rebounded and the follow-up was put home. Maybe should have done better with the first shot. Unfortunate only in that he’d played a good game up to that point. 2-1 Greece.
A couple chances and a couple yellows cards in the back half of the 2nd, but Greece controls the run of play and wins the day 2-1. The red card was the story of the game, and, for Nigeria, the tournament. This loss eliminates them from the second round.