2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Match 39 Group C Greece Vs Ivory Coast Tuesday June 24,2014

Greece Vs Ivory Coast  at Estadio Castelao, Fortaleza

Managers
Fernando Santos(Greece)



Greece's Kostas Katsouranis is banned after his sending off against Japan
Ivory Coast are without Didier Zokora, who serves a one-game ban after amassing two bookings
Ivory Coast's fate is in their own hands, and a win will see them progress to the knockout phase for the first time.
Defeat in Fortaleza would mean elimination for the Ivory Coast. A third successive exit at the group stage

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• This is the first time the sides have met.

Greece

• The Greeks had just 24.7% possession in their 0-0 draw with Japan. Since 1966, only one World Cup match has featured a lower possession figure - that was Greece's defeat to Argentina in 2010, when the Greeks saw just 20% of the ball.
• Their top passer against Japan was Ioannis Maniatis, who completed just 19 passes - a figure bettered by 10 Japanese players.
• The Greeks have failed to score in seven of eight World Cup games (W1, D1, L6).
• Both of their previous goals came against African opposition, although they only netted against Nigeria in 2010 after the Super Eagles were reduced to 10 men.

Ivory Coast

• Ivory Coast have gone almost a year without keeping a clean sheet. In their most recent nine games, both sides have scored.
• In their eight previous World Cup matches they have conceded two goals or more on five occasions.
• They netted in seven of those games, but scored the opening goal only once.
• Eight of the Ivorians' 12 World Cup goals have been scored in the final half hour of matches.
• Five of their last nine World Cup goals have been headers.
• If Gervinho scores against Greece, he will become the first player to net in three successive World Cup games for an African nation.
• Centre forward Wilfried Bony failed to touch the ball inside the penalty area during his 60 minutes on the pitch against Colombia.

Greece beats Ivory Coast 2-1

Goal Scorers

For Greece -Andreas Samaris(42) and Georgios Samaras(91)

For Ivory Coast -Wilfried Bony(74)

Another night of heartbreak. Just when it appeared Ivory Coast had something to smile about, their dreams of World Cup progress were dramatically shattered by Greece.

They were within 90 seconds of reaching the last 16 but a reckless foul by substitute Giovanni Sio enabled Giorgios Samaras to rifle in a penalty to secure a 2-1 win in Fortaleza and allow Greece to progress to the last 16 for the first time in their history.

Andreas Samaris fires Greece into the lead against the Ivory Coast in Group C on Tuesday night

Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony shoots and scores to equalise for his side against Greece 

Georgios Samaras stayed calm to send Greece through from the penalty spot

Former France international Sabri Lamouchi has stepped down as Ivory Coast head coach after the African side failed to reach the knockout stage of the World Cup as they lost to Greece 1-2

Lamouchi, a former Auxerre and Monaco midfielder who also had spells in Italy with Parma and Inter Milan, was appointed Ivory Coast head coach in May 2012 in what was his first managerial role.
He was in charge when they reached the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations.