BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa – Greece claimed its first World Cup win, rallying to beat 10-man Nigeria 2-1 in a World Cup Group B match on Thursday.
Vassilis Torosidis poked home a loose ball in the 71st minute after a mistake from Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama to make history for Greece, which had lost all four previous World Cup matches.
Nigeria opened the scoring in the 16th minute at Free State Stadium when Kalu Uche’s curling free kick from 35 yards deceived everyone, particularly goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas, who moved the wrong way.
But the game changed in the 33rd minute when Nigeria midfielder Sani Kaita was shown a straight red card for kicking Torosidis.
Striker Dimitris Salpingidis equalized in the 44th minute with a deflected shot before Torosidis’ winner.
