Greece 1-2 Czech Republic | Video | Euro 2012
Both centre-backs, gone. The goalkeeper, gone. The game, gone. All with just 22 minutes gone. That was the grim reality for Greece. And then, just when they thought they had grabbed a lifeline, that was gone too, taken from them by a linesman’s flag that the full-back Vassilis Torossidis insisted was no coincidence. Once again, they rebelled. Just as Dimitris Salpigidis had come on at half?time in their opening game and scored, so Fanis Gekas came on at half?time in their second game and within seven minutes he too had scored.
Ultimately, though, it was not enough. There would be no comeback this time and no points. Two early Czech goals clinched a vital win, and left the 2004 champions needing to beat Russia to have any chance of progressing: Greece are virtually out. “We have very little chance,” Fernando Santos said. “We tried and we tried but in the first 15 minutes we were just not on the pitch.” His opposite number, Michal Bilek, said: “The pressure was huge: we knew that if we lost it was the end of the Euro for us. Now the hope is still alive.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMAxmfhMF4M[/youtube]
