Giorgos Karagounis scored the only goal of the game as Greece earned a shock 1-0 win over Group A rivals Russia to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.
Despite being under pressure for large parts of the game, the Greeks took the lead in first-half stoppage time as Karagounis punished some sloppy defending.
Sergei Ignashevich failed to deal with a routine throw down the line, allowing Karagounis to spring clear and drill low under Vyacheslav Malafeev.
Greece nearly extended their lead in the 70th minute when Georgios Tzavelas curled a beautiful free-kick over the Russian wall but saw the ball slam against the top of the post.
It was all Russia in the dying seconds but the Euro 2004 champions remained resolute in defense to secure a famous victory.
The victory, coupled with a 1-0 victory for the Czech Republic over co-hosts Poland, proved to be enough to see Greece, who started the day bottom of Group A, into the last eight at Russia's expense.
Lineups:
Russia: Vyacheslav Malafeev; Aleksandr Anyukov (Marat Izmailov, 81), Aleksei Berezutski, Sergei Ignashevich, Yuri Zhirkov; Roman Shirokov, Igor Denisov, Denis Glushakov (Pavel Pogrebnyak, 72); Alan Dzagoev, Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Roman Pavlyuchenko, 46), Andrei Arshavin
Greece: Michalis Sifakis; Vasilis Torosidis, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Georgios Tzavelas; Kostas Katsouranis, Ioannis Maniatis; Dimitris Salpigidis (Sotiris Ninis, 83), Giorgos Karagounis (Grigoris Makos, 67), Georgios Samaras; Theofanis Gekas (José Holebas, 64)
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| Greece player Giorgos Karagounis scores past Russia goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev Photo: AP |
Despite being under pressure for large parts of the game, the Greeks took the lead in first-half stoppage time as Karagounis punished some sloppy defending.
Sergei Ignashevich failed to deal with a routine throw down the line, allowing Karagounis to spring clear and drill low under Vyacheslav Malafeev.
Greece nearly extended their lead in the 70th minute when Georgios Tzavelas curled a beautiful free-kick over the Russian wall but saw the ball slam against the top of the post.
It was all Russia in the dying seconds but the Euro 2004 champions remained resolute in defense to secure a famous victory.
The victory, coupled with a 1-0 victory for the Czech Republic over co-hosts Poland, proved to be enough to see Greece, who started the day bottom of Group A, into the last eight at Russia's expense.
Lineups:
Russia: Vyacheslav Malafeev; Aleksandr Anyukov (Marat Izmailov, 81), Aleksei Berezutski, Sergei Ignashevich, Yuri Zhirkov; Roman Shirokov, Igor Denisov, Denis Glushakov (Pavel Pogrebnyak, 72); Alan Dzagoev, Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Roman Pavlyuchenko, 46), Andrei Arshavin
Greece: Michalis Sifakis; Vasilis Torosidis, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Georgios Tzavelas; Kostas Katsouranis, Ioannis Maniatis; Dimitris Salpigidis (Sotiris Ninis, 83), Giorgos Karagounis (Grigoris Makos, 67), Georgios Samaras; Theofanis Gekas (José Holebas, 64)
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