Greece loses to 10-man Costa Rica in penalties

By George Georgakopoulos

Greece succumbed in a penalty shootout to 10-man Costa Rica, whose keeper Keylor Navas kept the score at 1-1 throughout extra time and then saved Fanis Gekas’s spot kick to send the Central Americans to the quarterfinals of the World Cup on Sunday night.

A Sokratis Papastathopoulos injury-time strike had cancelled out the Bryan Diaz opener for the “Ticos” to take the game to extra time, in yet another dramatic twist to a game involving the Greek national team.

The hot and humid conditions at Recife originally favored the Central Americans, who also enjoyed great support at the stands, in the quite noisy presence of some 1,000 Greek fans. However the punishing conditions then took their toll more on the team that played with a man down.

Both sides appeared nervous and reserved at the start, avoiding taking risks such as committing themselves to attack for long spells. Set pieces were therefore the source of most of the first half’s excitement. The jeering heard from the stands at the end of the barren first half was rather telling.

Greece often appeared reluctant to apply pressure on the “Ticos” beyond the halfway line in the first half-hour, allowing Costa Rica to enjoy more possession and be more creative.

One of the most interesting battles was the duel between Joel Campbell, the main source of concern for Greece, with Costas Manolas – two players who spent last season at the same club, Olympiakos.

The first chance of the game fell to Costa Rica with the match just seven minutes old, but Cristian Bolanos’s shot went over the Orestis Karnezis bar. Greece had to wait till the 28th minute for its first shot, by Giorgos Karagounis who in his 139th game with the national team saw his effort...