Press that there auto-refresh button for the latest updates. And why not email barney.ronay@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts or catch up with Sean Ingle’s live blog 45+2mins: HALF TIME . Nigeria have an odd team huddle in the centre circle as the whistle goes, not sure what the manager will think about that, but they must be furious with themselves. Still, it’s turned into a decent game now. I’ll be back in ten minutes with more. 45+1mins: Nigeria have a free-kick 40 yards from goal and it’s their first attack since they had a man sent off. Taiwo sends another scudder in that this time Tzorvas is able to flop down on and clutch to his chest. Nigeria in truth look shell-shocked. they had been coasying in this game. 44 mins: GREECE SCORE!!! It’s 1-1 as Salpingidis pings one in low from the right edge of the penalty area and it’s deflected off Haruna up and over the diving goalkeeper’s flailing arm. The ball broke back to Salpingidis and he hit it powerfully. That is Greece’s first ever World Cup goal – and they deserved it too. 41 mins: Haruna clears off the line , kicking the ball away from his post after a corner. That was a groovy kind of flicked attempt at a finish from Samaras that was bouncing inside the post and Haruna did his job. Great stuff from Greece. Samaras has made a big difference. They have an attacking focus now. Nat Guillhou asks: “All this African bonhomie is lovely to see, but how real is it? Any idea of which fixtures would be the ‘grudge matches’ on said continent?” Good question. Let’s ask Paul Doyle. 39 mins: Crucial moments in this game as Greece attack and Nigeria crawl towards half-time and a much-needed re-organisation. Greece are pouring it on here. Samars almost gets on to a loose ball in the six yard box after a neat low cross from Karagounis. Colin Greer asks “Do you buy into the notion that an African team’s win equates a win for the entire African continent? Or is this another slice of lazy punditry? Are you (and your compatriots) overwhelmed with joy when Germany wins?” Oh dear, look Africans generally want an African team to do well: this is their first ever World Cup. if Europe had never had the tournament and also never won it most of Europe would probably be cheering Germany on. 37 mins: Papadopoulos is off and the more attacking Samaras, formerly of Manchester City and also pomp metal band Queen, is on. 36 mins: Immediately Greece have their best chance of the game, Torosidis flying in from the left to meet a deep cross and head just over. Nigeria look in a state of shock and they have really shot themselves in the foot here. Meanwhile Alex Hendrikson muses: “My girlfriend has asked me to email her choice selections from your excellent minute by minute coverage. I now find myself providing minute by minute updates of minute by minute coverage, have things gone to far?” Frankly, you had me at “email her choice selections”. 33 mins: KAITA IS SENT OFF . A straight red card. Unbelievable indiscipline. A minor coming together off the pitch and he raises his foot to brush the knee of Katsouranis, who goes down in a heap of gamesmanship. But entirely Kaita’s fault. He trudges off looking totally shattered. That came out of nothing. Disaster for Nigeria. 32 mins: Torosidis gets absolutely clogged by Odia going up for a high ball. That looked extremely painful, he was essentially crushed by a massively bigger man and just for a second looked like a very small child being squashed by a wardrobe. 29 mins: Nigeria on the other hand look a bit more sprightly when they come forward. You really do feel this creaking Greece team is there for the taking if they can just be a bit more precise. James Nderitu writes: “Nigerias have just but to win. Keep up guys. We are with u from Africa.” And Greece have a corner, swung in by Karagounis and headed well over by Kyrgiakos rising above the immense Shittu. 27 mins: Now Nigeria hoof in a long free kick but it’s scuffed and Greece break with Gekas and Vyntra, but Karagounis fluffs his lines with a terrible pass and it’s all over for now. Greece are trying. They are just terribly limited. James Wells notes gravely “I think the lesson of the 2010 World Cup is that we can take men’s football seriously only when the standard of goalkeeping reaches that of women’s football.” 24 mins: Greece are venturing forward here, both wing-backs getting up and down and Karagounis to the fore, but blimey he’s lost whatever pace he ever had and looks terribly immobile. He lumps a long free kick into the box but Shittu rises to bunt it clear with his massive head. Not really the best way to attack this imposing Nigerian central defence. Oliver Pattendon asks: “We were assured no goalkeeping gaffe would top Green’s in this World Cup… how did this measure up??” Oh. Well. Not in that territory. I would say definitely funnier though. In the end he simply leapt out of the way. 21 mins: Nigeria have a free kick 35 yards out, which Taiwo blasts at the wall and it skitters off for a corner. Nervously defended by Greece but they eventually hack it clear. The goalkeeper really does look edgy after that howler. And Greg Cross snickers: “Will the Greeks use this opportunity to track down the Nigerian whose email they responded to..?!”, expressing his own sentiments hem hem and not those of this august online organ. 18 mins: Greece are looking ragged here, various players pointing and yelling at each other. Tzorvas will be feeling terrible. He seemed to be dummied by one of the Nigeria players in front of him, but ended up just letting the ball bounce through into his net. Katsouranis has a shot that’s blocked on the edge of the box. At least Greece will have to attack now. 16 mins: NIGERIA SCORE!!! A terrible error from the Greek goalkeeper and frankly a bizarre goal, as the scorer Uche curled in a free-kick from 45 yards, looking to find one of his strikers, and Tzorvas simply dived the wrong way when if he’d stood there he would have saved it. That was extraordinary. Terrible for Greece. A genuine – and I’m afriad hilarious – gaffe from the keeper. 14 mins: Nice little ball down the left channel from Etuhu that Yakubu scampers after but he just can’t get there. And now Papadopoulos has been booked for a pull back on the sprightly Odemwingie. Nice pressure from Nigeria. 11 mins: Greek free-kick wide on the left 40 yards from goal. Karagounis swirls it in and Yobo rises massively, the ball making a meaty “thwunk” as he heads it clear. At least Greece chucked some players forwards there. And here they come again, nice cross from the right by Vyntra but it’s behind Gekas. That was brighter. And now Katsouranis has a shot at goal from about 45 yards out, easily palmed down, but you appreciate the thought. Neil Colquhoun picks up: “To pick you up slightly on one point, Barney – surely if Greece lose today they’re definitely the first team eliminated? (I have a prediction comp riding on this!)”. Yes,. you are of course right. 8 mins: An extremely slow and cagey start here as both teams gird themselves for the inevitable explosion of goals. Gekas is ridiculously isolated in attack when Greece defend. There are simply no white shirts anywhere near him. Constantino objects: “In response to your early comment about preferring an African team to go through… I would like nothing more than to see another African team through to the next round, but 2004 cursed us forever with expectations. So when we fail badly today I will in despair. The only thing worse than a glimmer of hope is the misery of knowing we can do better.” Is that a lyric from a Smiths song? 5 mins: First attempt at a genuine attack from both sides: a pair of overhit crosses from Nigeria’s left hand side and Greece’s right. Both nowhere near the sole man skulking anywhere near in the box. Oh dear. None of that please. We need a a winner today. Mohammed Syed muses: “Whats the point of Greece even turning up. They’re going to get hammered. As they’re a bit skint they should have sold the slot to Turkey or Russia.” Greece will of course be looking to silence these taunts with a feats of joyful attacking football. 3 mins: Nigeria have their first little spell but it peters out as Yakubu puts in a slightly surprising early “reducer” on Karagounis ands it’s a free kick. And Ben Davis notes: “Darren Anderton has scored more world cup goals than Greece. Just a thought.” Darren Anderton has probably also got more cash in the bank than Greece. 1 mins: Greece kick us off and they’re straight into a spell of meandering keep-ball in their own half. It already looks more like a back five than a flying wing-backs situation, but early days here. 3.01pm: Nath Jones is pshawing: “Nikos the Greek fan’s “3-4-3 with overlapping wing-backs” conjures up thoughts of some brilliant 1-6-3 formation which will set the World Cup alight, similar to the unbeatable 1-4-5 formation on Championship Manager ’93. I’m guessing Greece will actually play a 5-4-1 in practice, though, yep?” 2.59pm: Gekas looks to be playing as a lone striker in this formation, at the head of a 4-1-4-1. Nigeria are in a more attacking 4-4-1-1, with Odemwingie lurking in the hole. 2.57pm: And… Obafemi Martins is wearing gloves. In the sunshine. Although to be fair it was quite chilly last night in Blomefontein. 2.55pm: The teams are out. Nigeria in groovy green zip-up V-necks. Some vague mumbling from the Greeks during their anthem. They look – how to put this nicely? – quite a grizzled lot. 2.52pm: You can of course email me your thoughts on barney.ronay@guardian.co.uk , or if you like communicate with me via Twitter if that’s your bag. Greece. I feel slightly weary reminding you, have yet to score at the World Cup finals. Any World Cup finals. So let’s hope a slice of history. 2.51pm: Of course, Nigeria have hardly set the tournament alight, the wondrous Enyeama apart. But this is a must-win game against a team notably bereft of Messi-level attacking geniuses. Perhaps the only thing the Nigeria defence have to fear today is the implicit fate-tempting warning in the right side of their own defence, which is made up of Odiah and Shittu. Let’s hope there will be none of that today. Greece, of course, have to win or they’re pretty much certain to be out of here. Two desperate teams who have to win. What could possibly go wrong? 2.47pm: Nothing to do with Greece being a rather cautious team of course (although Gekas was Europe’s top scorer in qualifying). Nikos the Greek fan has encouraging news on that front: “We’ve reverted back to the successful 3-4-3 with 21 yr old Papastathopoulos and 31 yr old Kyrgiakos back in. The key to the game will be using the energy of the CM to close down Nigeria and get the ball out wide with pace. Gekas should have more opportunities if overlapping “wing-backs” can hit the by-line. Look out for 19 yr old Ninis to replace Karagounis in the second half if still looking for that vital “spark”.” Indeed. 2.45pm: Hello and welcome to coverage of in intriguing mid-group clash. No offence to Greece, and with apologies to the retro oeuvre of John Travolta. But today the word is, not Greece, but Nigeria. It is almost impossible to be neutral with this one. What the World Cup needs is another African win, and another African team with a chance of making the last 16. The teams are in: Greece: 12-Alexandros Tzorvas; 11-Loukas Vyntra, 16-Sotiris Kyrgiakos, 15-Vassilis Torosidis, 6-Alexandros Tziolis, 8-Avraam Papadopoulos, 19-Socratis Papastathopoulos, 10-Giorgos Karagounis, 21-Kostas Katsouranis; 14-Dimitris Salpingidis, 17-Fanis Gekas. Nigeria: 1-Vincent Enyeama; 17-Chidi Odiah, 6-Danny Shittu, 2-Joseph Yobo, 3-Taye Taiwo, 12-Kalu Uche, 20-Dickson Etuhu, 15-Haruna Lukman, 14-Sani Kaita, 8-Yakubu Aiyegbeni, 11-Peter Odemwingie. Referee: Oscar Ruiz (Colombia) Barney will be here from 2.46pm. In the meantime, why not peruse Sachin Nakrani’s match preview of Greece v Nigeria: The overriding belief within the Greece squad is that it is now or never. Following a lacklustre 2-0 defeat by South Korea in their opening match of the tournament on Saturday, Otto Rehhagel’s men recognise that another failure to deliver against Nigeria in Bloemfontein today will as good as end their World Cup campaign. Both sides head into the match on zero points but Nigeria can take heart from the spirit and flashes of creativity they showed in their 1-0 defeat by the Group B heavyweights Argentina in their opening game. Greece, however, require a sizeable improvement on the display they put in against Korea, when Lee Jung-soo and Park Ji-sung were able to score against the Euro 2004 winners with relative ease. “In the first match we didn’t do what we could. Why, I don’t know,” said the midfielder Sotiris Ninis . “Tomorrow is our last chance. There will be no other chance to catch up with losses. Either we will win or that will be the end and we will have to return home disappointed.” For the full preview, click here . World Cup 2010 Greece Nigeria World Cup 2010 Group B Barney Ronay guardian.co.uk
Read the rest here:
World Cup 2010: Greece v Nigeria – live! | Barney Ronay
Breaking Sports Video
