Greece V Ivory Coast World Cup 2014

Greece V Ivory Coast Fifa World Cup 2014

After match synopsis in red!!

Beers: Group C of Beer World Cup: http://thisdrinkinglife.com/world-cup-beer-group-c/

Who is set to win the battle of the beers? Mythos V ? Unfortunately I couldn’t source any beer from Ivory Coast so this will be a one sided affair. Click on picture for a preview of the beer.

Mythos V ? : 1-0 win for Mythos as I couldn’t source a beer from the Ivory Coast. Click on links below for full beer information and reviews

PreGame:

Greece: If the Greeks want to get to the last 16 they will have to do something that so far they have shown they are incapable of doing, scoring goals, or even a goal. In a World Cup of joy, the Greeks are the big party poppers, refusing to play an attacked minded game and instead do what they know best, defensive football. To be fair to them it has worked for them in the past. They did with the European championships for a start with it. But tonight they have no other option, they have to score goals. And if Japan are winning in the other game, they might have to score more than one. A big ask.

If they can score a goal before they go home that would be an achievement for this team.

Ivory Coast have only played in patches in this World Cup. They did the bare minimum to beat a dogged Japanese team and piled on the pressure in the last 20 minutes against Colombia. If they could play well for a whole 90 minutes then they should comfortably win this game tonight.

They are without Didier Zokora, who serves a one-game ban after gaining two bookings. His suspension is a massive loss to the team, as he is a solid defender and keep his defence in tow. They can overcome that loss though as they are playing a Greek team that doesn’t like to attack.

And Didier Drogba will surely be starting tonight, as the manager finally gets his brain in gear. The team instantly lifts when Drogs is on the pitch, and he will be harrowing and attacking the Greek defence from the get go. Drogba, Kalou (if he is starting), Yaya Touré and Gervinho at full tilt going forward are an awesome sight, and I wonder how long the Greek team can hold out for. And don’t forget Aurier, who will be whipping in the killer balls into the box.

A shout out to Yaya and Kolo Toure, who are mourning the terrible loss of their brother Ibrahim, in what makes this game tonight even more poignant for them. Surely they will get the win in memory of their brother. Cant imagine their frame of mind for this game.

Ivory Coast’s fate is in their own hands, and a win will see them progress to the knockout phase for the first time in their World Cup history, but a draw could also be enough depending on how Japan’s get on in the other game. Surely Drogba will get them going in this game.

A more detailed review on Greece here and on Ivory Coast here

Had looked at the Japan V Colombia game live and only highlights of this game.

Greece qualified for the last 16 of a World Cup for the very first time in their history with a dramatic late winner against the Ivory Coast.

Georgios Samaras converted a controversial penalty in the 93rd minute to seal the win after he was deemed to have been fouled by Giovanni Sio. Was it a foul? I am still not so sure, it certainly looked like Samaras was clipped as he was about to shoot, but then was there intention? It looked very awkward more than anything else.

Greece, needing the win to advance, played a little more adventurous in this game, good play down the wings, with Barry in the Ivory Coast goals having to pull of a few good saves to keep his team in the game. And with the pressure came the goal. Samaris scored from a mistake in the IC defence to latch onto a ball and score a nice peach of a goal to put Greece one up. I had highlighted pre game how I thought the loss of Zokora would hinder the Ivorian’s defence, I was right. Samaris went right up the middle of the defence with not a tackle or challenge to stop him, to slot in an easy goal.

In the second half and against the run of play, Karagounis almost made it 2-0 with a long-range effort that hit the crossbar.

That looked to have woken up the IC as they started to inject more urgency into their game and eventually that payed off as Bony scored a nice goal to make it one apiece. Now the Ivory Coast were in the driving seat, and could have taken the lead if they had used their possession and chances better. But it still looked like they had done enough.

That was until deep into injury time and the debatable penalty decision. Whatever about the ins and outs of the penalty decision, the pressure Samaras was under was immense. Score and you are through to the last 16, miss and you are going home. Wow, that was a PRESSURE shot. Well done to Samaras for slotting it away.

Greece will now face Costa Rica in the second round on Sunday, in a game they could conceivably win. This Greek team just never knows when its beaten.

For the Ivory Coast they go home, a team made up of big stars and top players, but one that has never really achieved their potential either in the African Nations Cup or the World Cup. A pity.