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Greece defeat Albania 2-0
European champions Greece improved their chances of qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals with a 2-0 victory over Albania on Wednesday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:51 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Piraeus:
European champions Greece improved their chances of qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals with a 2-0 victory over Albania on Wednesday. The Greeks dominated from the start, and came close to opening the scoring in the 13th minute. From Angelos Basinas's corner kick on the right hand side, a Costas Katsouranis header hit the crossbar and deflected to safety. Stepping up the pressure Greece continued piling on the pressure and were again denied by the woodwork when Zisis Vryzas's fiercely-struck volley crashed back off the crossbar in the 31st minute. But three minutes later Angelos Charisteas, the scorer of the winning goal against Portugal in the 2004 European Championship final, gave the Greeks the lead - his header from a Basinas free-kick powering past Ilion Lika and in off the underside of the bar. Greece scored a deserved second with five minutes remaining in the game. Theodoris Zagorakis' ball into area was chested down by Zisis Vryzas to Giorgos Karagounis, who finished emphatically past Lika. The final score was 2-0. This was Greece's fourth successive qualifying win since they opened their Group-2 campaign with a defeat and two draws, and the European champions avenged a 2-1 loss to Albania in the opening game. Greece are now in second place in Group Two with 14 points, trailing leaders Ukraine by three points. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
Football Greece Chelsea
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