Football Club

More than 30 women were ejected from the stadium because of the dresses

South African prosecutors have dropped charges against two Dutch women accused of a marketing stunt at the World Cup.

The pair were arrested last week at the match between Denmark and the Netherlands.

They were accused of “ambush marketing” by wearing orange mini-dresses associated with a Dutch brewery and breaking strict Fifa marketing rules.

The Dutch foreign minister strongly condemned the arrests.

“The charges have been dropped. Fifa indicated that they have no interest in proceeding with the matter,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga.

“They reached an agreement with Bavaria Beer company,” he said.

‘Outrageous’
 
Under South African laws brought in after it was chosen to host the football tournament, the women could have been sentenced to prison terms by special World Cup courts.

“It is outrageous that the two women have a jail term hanging over their heads for wearing orange dresses in a football stadium,” Maxime Verhagen said in a statement.

The case has led to the sacking of English football commentator and former footballer Robbie Earle.

He was found to have passed on some of the tickets used by the women from his allocation for friends and family, in breach of Fifa rules, and was promptly sacked by employer ITV.

With a large chunk of Fifa’s revenue coming from selling World Cup marketing rights, it vigorously pursues anyone who tries to associate itself with the tournament, reports the BBC’s Jonah Fisher from Johannesburg.

Earlier this year a local low-cost airline was forced to withdraw an advertising campaign that boasted it was the “Unofficial National Carrier of the You-Know-What”.

We have made Africa proud - Gyan

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac says the pressure of being the last African side in the World Cup will not hinder his team in their World Cup quarter-final.

The Black Stars, who carry the hopes of the host continent, face Uruguay on Friday aiming to become the first African team to reach the semi-finals.

“We’re not under any obligation to make history but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to,” said Rajevac.

“We will not change our style or worry about so-called pressure.”

Only two other African teams have advanced to the World Cup quarter-finals – Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002.

And the president of Ghana’s football federation hopes the team’s performance will help unite the entire African continent.

“We are happy that Fifa has given South Africa and Africa the opportunity for healing,” said Kwesi Nyantakyi.

“We are supported by the whole of Africa. In Africa, we are one person, we have a common objective and that is why we support one another.

“We know we are not alone. We are trying to pursue the African cause – we will do our best.”

A 2-1 win over the United States helped Ghana into the last eight of the World Cup, but to progress further, Rajevac believes his side will have to be alert to Uruguay’s attacking threat.

“Uruguay have a great tradition and players playing in the best leagues in Europe,” added Rajevac.

“They have to be one of the best teams in the world. They deserve every respect and Forlan is a fine player.

“But we will play the way that has brought us success so far.

“We are not going to adjust our style and we will try to use whatever weakness we can find in our opponents.

“What is very important is to be able to change your system as the match demands.”

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan, who has scored two goals in the tournament so far, has hailed Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez.

“He is quite calm as a coach, with a lot of experience, who knows how to handle the group very well,” said Forlan.

“The experience that he has from (the 1990 World Cup) and other teams has helped us all a lot.”

Brazil versus the Netherlands has given us some wonderful World Cup memories. The 1998 semi-final was one of Ronaldo’s best performances in the competition. The Dutch should probably have won a pulsating game, losing their nerve in the penalty shoot-out, but they softened up the Brazilians for France in the final.

The 1994 quarter-final had Bebeto’s immortal ‘rock the cradle’ celebration, a shock Holland comeback and finally Branco’s spectacular long-range free-kick.

But the really important contest – the one whose repercussions continue to ripple through the game – was the meeting in West Germany in 1974. In what was effectively a semi-final, the Netherlands won 2-0 while a frustrated Brazil, the reigning world champions, resorted to a full repertoire of rugby tackles and body checks.

Spearheaded by the legendary Johann Cruyff, that Dutch team have gone down in history as one of the greatest sides not to win the World Cup. Their style of play caught everyone’s imagination.

Most often remarked on is how the players constantly changed positions. The game with Brazil supplies a classic example, right-back Wim Suurbier having a shot saved after cutting in from the left wing.

More fundamental than this, though, was the general idea of having as many players involved in the game as possible at any given time, with or without the ball.

Jan Jongloed had to be a sweeper keeper because the back line pushed so high up the field. Not because they were trying to play offside but because they were ferociously pressing to win the ball back.

In the space of a few weeks, the Netherlands rendered South American football obsolete. They toyed with Uruguay on their way to a 2-0 win, brushed Argentina aside 4-0 and then did for the Brazilians.

The South American playmakers were used to having time on the ball. Watch Brazil’s Gerson in 1970. He picks up possession, wanders around chatting to his team-mates, pointing and gesticulating. He almost has time to get out the newspaper and check the headlines before deciding which pass to give. This was no longer possible.

In 1974, no sooner had the playmaker received the ball than half of the Netherlands was charging towards him, anxious to win it back and set an attack in motion. They pressed collectively to win possession and then offered the man on the ball options for a pass.

It was the definitive moment when football stopped being a collection of man-against-man duels and became a constant contest of 11 against 11.

How could this new challenge be met?

A nation’s footballing culture can be a complex thing, with different currents pulling in different directions. In the most general terms, however, Brazil and Argentina came up with very different responses to the Netherlands of 1974.

If there is any truth in Jonathan Stevenson’s argument last week that Argentina have become the new Brazil, then this is the moment when the process begins.

After the 1974 World Cup, Cesar Luis Menotti took over as coach of Argentina. Something of a footballing philosopher, he had a passionate belief in the tradition of his country’s game. Old style Argentine passing football could still compete with the big, strong Europeans, he argued, but the rhythm would have to be increased.

Hence the importance of the ever busy, fetch-and-carry Osvaldo Ardiles to the 1978 midfield. The Argentina side remains full of short players with a low centre of gravity, the classic build of the South American footballer.

Brazil’s coaches were less philosophers than technocrats. They were fascinated with the Dutch team and made a brief attempt to imitate it under Claudio Coutinho in 1978. After that had failed and the more traditional approach of 1982 had not worked either, a consensus formed on the need for change.

It was argued that the physical evolution of the game and the fact players were covering more ground made more physical contact inevitable. So the Brazilians decided that if they could match the Europeans in physical terms, their extra skill would tip the balance.

This has been achieved with interest and Brazil are now a huge side. When they met Germany in the 2002 World Cup final, they did so at no physical disadvantage.

In this new, more athletic football, the statistics seemed to indicate that a move’s chances of ending in a goal were reduced if it contained more than seven passes. So rather than old style elaborate moves through the middle – which Argentina love to indulge in, especially if Juan Sebastian Veron is on the field – Brazil put more emphasis on quick breaks down the flanks.

So Gilberto Silva is a symbol of the modern Brazil – a big, strong central midfielder of limited passing ability whose main function is to close down the middle of the field and plug the defensive gaps. But so is Maicon – a big, strong right-back with the pace, power and skill to rip through any defence.

Of course, the attacking full-back was part of the culture of Brazilian football before 1974, as was the defensive midfielder. But the forward bursts of the full-back have become more important precisely because the central midfielder makes less of an attacking contribution. And the defensive skills of the central midfielder are more important precisely because he has to cover for the full-back.

And this switch in balance, which profoundly alters the style of play, can be dated back to the day that Brazil lost 2-0 to Holland back in 1974.

Venue: Port Elizabeth

Date: Friday, 2 July 2010

Kick-off: 1500 BST

TEAM NEWS
Brazil will be without playmaker Elano, who is suffering from a bruised bone in his right ankle. Felipe Melo (ankle) and Julio Baptista (knee) are doubtful to make the starting line-up. Fellow midfielder Ramires is suspended, leaving coach Dunga with limited options.

The Netherlands go into the match with a clean bill of health and are expected to field the same line-up that beat Slovakia in their last 16 encounter.

Suspended: Ramires (Brazil); one booking from suspension: De Jong, Van Persie, Van der Wiel, Kuyt, Van der Vaart, Van Bronckhorst, Robben, Stekelenburg (Netherlands); Fabiano, Juan, Melo, Kaka (Brazil).

MATCH PREVIEW
The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium hosts the teams ranked first and fourth in the world, in a fascinating quarter-final encounter. Will it be jogo bonito versus total football, or winning ugly at the expense of the beautiful game?

Brazil and the Netherlands have come to South Africa to win, not to entertain. Pragmatic, workmanlike and efficient may be dirty words in both countries, but coaches Dunga and Bert van Marwijk aren’t listening. “We came here to win,” said Van Marwijk. “If we can win with beautiful football then fine, but I said when I took this job that we would also have to learn how to win ugly games.”

You can see Van Marwijk’s point. In years gone by, the Dutch would delight and dismay in equal measure, but they head into Friday’s match on a all-time national record, 23-game unbeaten run and have won all eight of their games in 2010. The likes of Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart are yet to dazzle in South Africa, but the Dutch defence, cited as the team’s weak spot before the tournament, has yet to concede a goal from open play (the two goals scored against them were penalties).

Dunga captained Brazil to World Cup glory in 1994 – beating the Netherlands along the way – with a team that was criticised for its negative approach, and is immune to sniping about his current side, perhaps with good reason. Only Germany and Argentina have scored more goals and, according to Fifa, Brazil have created more goal opportunities than any other side.

MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- This will be the 10th meeting between these sides. Brazil have won three to the Netherlands’ two, with four draws.

- They have met at the World Cup on three previous occasions: the Netherlands reached the 1974 final thanks to a 2-0 win in the second group stage; Brazil won 3-2 in the 1994 quarter-finals; and the 1998 semi-final ended in a 1-1 draw, with Brazil progressing on penalties.

Netherlands
- The Netherlands have won four consecutive World Cup matches, equalling their best-ever run. The last time they managed this was in 1974, when they reached the final.

- Van Marwijk’s side are on a 23-match unbeaten run, a record for the Dutch. Their last defeat was in September 2008 (a 2-1 loss to Australia in Eindhoven).

- They have only conceded four goals in their last eight World Cup matches, keeping four clean sheets in the process.

Brazil
- Brazil are competing in the last eight for the 16th time in 19 World Cups.

- The Brazilians have only lost one of their last 30 games. That came in their penultimate qualifier, a game played at altitude in Bolivia after qualification had already been achieved.

- They have participated in all 18 previous World Cups, and have won the most world titles (five).

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)

Assistants: Toru Sagara (Japan) and Jeong Hae-sang (South Korea)

Fourth: Khalil Al-Ghamdi

The goals dried up on the last day of Round of 16 action but that will be of no concern to Spain and Paraguay after they advanced to the FIFA World Cup™ quarter-finals, the South Americans for the first time in their history.

The previous six last-16 games had produced the highest goals-per-game ratio (3.5) seen since the introduction of this extra knockout stage in 1986 but today gave us just the one, David Villa’s winner for Spain against neighbours Portugal in Cape Town. Fernando Torres may still be recovering full sharpness but Villa has now netted in three straight games and his solitary strike was sufficient to settle a match where Portugal struggled to create clear chances, with Cristiano Ronaldo a largely peripheral figure and Ricardo Costa sent off late on.

Two years to the day since they were crowned European champions, Spain offered a reminder of the threat of the Old Continent after Paraguay had ensured a piece of history for South American football by becoming the fourth CONMEBOL team to reach the last eight thanks to a 5-3 success in these finals’ first penalty shoot-out against Japan. La Albirroja have joined Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in the quarter-finals, so surpassing the previous record of three South American sides at Mexico 1970.

Without a striker like Villa, Gerardo Martino’s charges have got there on the back of a miserly defence – conceding just one goal – though they had the crossbar to thank when Daisuke Matsui was denied a spectacular breakthrough goal by the woodwork in the first half in Pretoria. Japan had previously caught the eye with their long-range shooting against Denmark, when both Keuisuke Honda and Yasuhito Endo struck from free-kicks, suggesting they had mastered the art of striking the Jabulani better than most. However, when it came to scoring from 12 yards, Takeshi Okada’s side fell short, Yuichi Komano’s shot clipping the crossbar. Four Paraguayans had already converted their kicks when Oscar Cardozo stepped up to send La Albirroja through.

Results
Paraguay 0-0 Japan aet, 5-3 pso
Spain 1-0 Portugal

Goal of the day
Spain 1-0 Portugal, David Villa, 63 mins: Barcelona’s “passing carousel” is how Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson refers to it and it eventually unlocked a Portugal back line hitherto unbreached here in South Africa. Andres Iniesta slipped the ball through to Xavi Hernandez and his backheel put Villa, their new colleague at the Camp Nou, clear on the left side of the penalty box. Eduardo was equal to his first effort but Villa scooped the rebound in off the bar for his fourth goal of this FIFA World Cup, drawing him level with Gonzalo Higuain and Robert Vittek atop the scorers’ chart.

One to remember
The sheer pressure of the penalty shoot-out ensured there were tears shed by both sides in Pretoria. If it was no surprise to see tears rolling down the cheeks of the unfortunate Komano, a more striking image was the shaking form of Paraguay coach Martino in the winners’ dugout, sobbing uncontrollably, his head buried into the shoulder of one of his technical staff.

Quote of the day
“This team has done Japan and all Asia proud. But, as far as today’s defeat is concerned, I accept all the responsibility. As coach I feel as we should have done more. Honda was very isolated and that was my fault,” Takeshi Okada takes the blame for defeat after Japan’s dream of a first quarter-final slips away at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.

The stat
0 – The number of goals scored by Paraguay’s strikers en route to the quarter-finals. La Albirroja have still not found the net in four Round of 16 matches.

Voice of the fans
“Spain were a little bit better in a good match. Llorente’s entrance made a difference because sadly Torres was not right. Go Rojas!” FIFA.com user Royi440.

Have your say
Can Paraguay’s miserly defence keep out Spain in their Saturday night showdown at Ellis Park?

Quarter-finals
Netherlands v Brazil
Uruguay v Ghana
Argentina v Germany
Paraguay v Spain

Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz admitted the best team won after Spain beat their Iberian neighbours 1-0 to book a World Cup quarter-final with Paraguay.

David Villa’s strike proved to be the difference in Cape Town.

“Spain had the better chances and I think, sadly, they deserved to win,” said Queiroz.

“Spain were much more effective moving the ball around. We were looking for chances on the counter-attack. We had our chances – we just didn’t score.”

Despite their conservative game plan – Portugal only really came to life in a desperate final five minutes – Queiroz insisted his side had given their all.

“We showed ambition and desire to win but it just wasn’t possible. We’ll have to come back stronger,” he added.

“I believe the fans have justifiable reason to be proud of the way the team has played.

“We wanted to do well and when we compete at this level, if we manage to obtain second or third, it is not satisfactory.

“We always have as our main goal to win. We also want to have an honourable performance to dignify Portuguese football.

“I wanted us to be able to leave the field with our heads held high, and I think we accomplished this.”

Portugal’s star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, had a frustrating night and was frequently marginalised as Spain controlled possession, and he refused to talk to reporters as he left the ground.

TEAM NEWS
Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso is a major doubt with a sprained ankle, so Javier Martinez is on standby to replace him. Reserve defender Raul Albiol is definitely out of this match after damaging ankle ligaments during training.

Deco is available again for Portugal after a hip injury, so coach Carlos Queiroz must decide whether to restore him to the starting line-up. Hugo Almeida or Liedson will come back into the team as Danny is expected to miss the game with a badly bruised leg.

One booking from suspension: Almeida, Coentrao, Duda, Mendes, Pepe, Ronaldo, Tiago (Portugal)

MATCH PREVIEW
Two years ago to the day of this match, Spain finally broke their major tournament duck and lifted the European Championship trophy. If they are to go one step further and break their World Cup hoodoo they are going to have to significantly up their performances, starting against their Iberian neighbours Portugal.

Fernando Torres scored the goal in the final in Vienna back in 2008, but his performances in South Africa have been synonymous with that of the rest of the Spanish team. He and many of his much-vaunted colleagues have started the tournament sluggishly and look like they are still recovering from the shock of losing to Switzerland in their opening match.

Portugal have played out two grim goalless draws sandwiched either side of a mauling of North Korea. Coach Carlos Queiroz has opted for a different striking formation in all three of their games so far, but while he ponders how to get goals at one end, he is losing no sleep about a defensive unit that has conceded just once in their last 12 matches.

The Portuguese have only beaten Spain five times in 32 encounters, but perversely have lost this fixture just once since 1958. Like many local derbies, a draw has proved to be a very common result, so penalties could be the only way of separating these neighbours at the Cape Town stadium.

MATCH OFFICIALS
Head-to-head
- They have met 32 times in international football. Portugal have won just five matches, Spain 15 and there have been 12 draws.

- But Portugal won their last meeting 1-0, which came at the Euro 2004 group stages and eliminated Sapin from the competition.

- And Spain have only beaten Portugal once in the ten matches since 1958.

Spain
- They must make history if they are to win the World Cup, as no country has lost its first group match and gone on to lift the trophy.

- David Villa has scored six goals in six starts at the World Cup and is now the all-time top scorer for Spain at the tournament.

- Spain became the first team since Hungary in 1986 not to collect a single card in the group stages of a World Cup tournament. In fact, they have not had a player cautioned in their last six matches since Sergio Ramos was booked against France on 3 March.

Portugal
- Portugal have conceded just one goal in their last 12 internationals.

- Should they get through against Spain, they will set a new unbeaten record for Portugal of 20 games in all competitions.

- They have failed to score in their last two World Cup knockout matches – 0-0 (aet) against England in the quarter-final and a 1-0 defeat to France in the semi-final in 2006.

The Football Association has told Fabio Capello he will have to wait another two weeks to find out if he has a future as England manager.

Capello, 64, said he wanted to stay in the post despite England’s second-round World Cup exit at the hands of Germany.

But, after speaking to Club England chairman Sir Dave Richards, Capello was told he must wait for a decision.

“I said I can be the manager for the next season, but it is for him to decide,” said the Italian.

“We spoke also about the players that can play for the next qualification and I know what I have to do.”

The England team left South Africa on Monday evening and are due back in the United Kingdom in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

There were some miserable faces as they boarded the bus to the airport to depart from a desperately disappointing World Cup campaign.

However, asked if he wanted to stay in the position he has held since December 2007 on a reported salary of £6m a year, Capello replied: “Absolutely.

“I have got a contract. I refused a lot of opportunities to be a manager from a lot of important clubs because I would like to stay here. I like this job. I like being England manager.”

Capello guided England during an impressive World Cup qualifying campaign, with the team losing only once and topping their group.

But they struggled to repeat that form in South Africa, drawing their first two group games against the United States and Algeria, before qualifying for the knockout stages with a 1-0 win over Slovenia.

The 4-1 loss to the Germans was England’s heaviest defeat in any World Cup finals, leading to criticism about Capello’s selection policy, his preferred formation and questions about the players’ fitness.

England midfielder Joe Cole also said after Sunday’s game that the squad still needed to address “a lot of issues”.

But Club England managing director Adrian Bevington stated that FA officials had decided to give themselves extra time to decide on Capello’s position to avoid a “knee-jerk reaction” in the wake the defeat in Bloemfontein.

“Sir Dave Richards met with Fabio this morning and we are all very clear that Fabio is under contract with the FA until the 2012 European Championship and nothing has changed in that respect,” said Bevington.

“Obviously everybody is very disappointed today, so it makes perfect sense for us to go back to London, take stock of the situation and see what we can take from it and just speak to Fabio from there.

“I don’t think there is anything sinister in it beyond that.

“We just want to show a common-sense approach rather than making a knee-jerk reaction within 24 hours of a very disappointing result.”

Asked why the performances of the England players had not matched those at their clubs, Capello answered that he believed they were suffering from a long season and called for a winter break in England.

“I think all the English players are really tired at this competition,” he responded. “The coaches told me the physical condition of the players was not good and they did not play like the players that we know.

“I understand a lot after this tournament because the players trained very well and were focused every time but the performance was not at the level that I know.”

Capello, who has won domestic titles in Italy and Spain but was making his World Cup debut as a manager, also rejected claims his preference for a 4-4-2 formation was at fault for England’s displays.

“I think you can decide on a different style but a good style depends on the form of the players,” he reflected. “We played this style for a long time and the results were very good.

“Sometimes you can change with the game but that depends on the physical situation and not the style. The style always depends on the players in my squad.”

The disappointing World Cup exit has led to calls for an English manager to take over from Capello, with Fulham’s Roy Hodgson and Tottenham’s Harry Redknapp touted as potential successors.

But Capello was not drawn on whether he justified a £6m-a-year salary.

“When they decided to pick me to be manager I spoke with the people and they decided to give me this money,” he said. “But I think it is not about the money, it is the value of the man.”

Bevington added: “It is not Fabio who sets his salary. It is very important that we appreciate that we hired Fabio when as a nation we were on the floor.

“Fabio restored that confidence with a successful qualification campaign and we need to put that into context.”

Meanwhile, the FA has confirmed that a number of England players were robbed at their hotel in Rustenburg.

A number of unnamed players had shirts, a medal and underwear taken by members of the cleaning staff at their Royal Bafokeng base.

The goods were eventually located and returned, while five hotel workers were convicted of the thefts by a special World Cup court.

“We can confirm that some items went missing, which have thankfully been returned,” said an FA spokesman.

“The local police have dealt with the matter and, as far as we are concerned, it has been resolved.”

Brazil coach Dunga blamed Portugal for what he considered negative tactics after the dismal 0-0 draw which ensured both sides reached the last 16.

Hopes had been high for a display of attacking verve, but both teams tackled cynically and were booed off in Durban.

“I’m not happy,” Dunga said. “We always play to win. We even tried to attack in the last five minutes. Portugal didn’t attack. They just wanted to defend.”

Goalkeeper Julio Cesar added: “Now the hard part begins.”

“It was a difficult group so it was good to finish first. We can’t lose anymore.”

Victories over North Korea and Ivory Coast in their first two Group G matches meant Brazil had already qualified for the knockout stages, though the draw confirmed them as group winners while Portugal secured the point they needed for progression.

But Dunga, who has been heavily criticised by much of the nation’s media for not paying heed to Brazil’s traditionally vibrant attacking style of play, insisted his team possessed the greater ambition.

“The Portuguese team defended from midfield backwards,” he stated.

“It made it difficult to penetrate their defence. We nevertheless had three or four goal-scoring opportunities.”

Portuguese keeper Eduardo was the chief reason for denying Brazil when they did break forward, brilliantly tipping Nilmar’s close-range effort onto the post in the first half before clawing the ball away from his top corner from Ramires’ deflected strike late on.

Real Madrid forward Kaka was suspended and midfielder Elano missing through injury, but Dunga said their absence did not hinder his side.
 
Nilmar hits the post for Brazil
“Kaka and Elano are exceptional players,” the Brazil boss reflected. “But the way in which Portugal played, it would have made it difficult for Kaka and Elano to help us more.”

When asked about the many fouls which littered a match in which seven yellow cards were produced, Brazil captain Lucio replied: “We know both teams had a lot of will to win and went in with a lot of determination and so it happens, one or more severe tackles.

“I think our team tried to play a little more. We knew it would be like that as both teams were qualified.”

Argentina won their third straight game at the 2010 World Cup to top Group B and eliminate a Greek side that paid for their almost complete lack of ambition.

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel knew his team would probably require a victory to progress but he again stuck with the defensive tactics that he feels he must use if his side is to succeed against technically superior opponents.

His plan of keeping it tight against Argentina and striking on the counter-attack unravelled when Martin Demichelis smashed home the opening goal of a largely forgettable contest with 13 minutes left.

The Bayern Munich defender pounced after his initial header had struck Diego Milito and rebounded invitingly – and he crashed the ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the six-yard box.

Lionel Messi, skippering his side in the absence of the rested Javier Mascherano, had a frustrating evening as he received close attention from his opponents but he almost struck a second after a jinking run ended with a thunderous strike that crashed against the post.

But the second goal did come when another Messi strike was palmed into the path of substitute striker Martin Palermo, who slotted home with his right foot.

Exactly 24 years after scoring his infamous “Hand of God” goal against England at the 1986 World Cup, coach Diego Maradona, leapt for joy in his technical area.

His team will play Mexico on Sunday in the round of 16, with South Korea qualifying from second place in Group B.

But the legendary Argentine had cut a frustrated figure for most of the evening as his team dominated territory and possession but often struggled to break down well-organised opponents.

Sotirios Papastathopoulos man-marked Messi, following him faithfully all over the park as the Argentine skipper tried to find some space from which to exert an influence on the game.

It was a tactic that spoiled the contest as a spectacle but saw Rehhagel’s team successfully reach the interval on level terms.

Argentina, with seven changes from the side that defeated South Korea 4-1, stroked the ball around with ease in the middle of the park but did not really threaten Tzorvas’s goal until striker Sergio Aguero drew a save with a crisp strike from a wide position after 18 minutes.

Tzorvas tipped over long-range strikes from fit-again Juan Sebastian Veron and Messi, while Maxi Rodriguez was denied from 14 yards and Loukas Vyntra blocked from Diego Milito.

But as the opening half wore on there were signs that Greece’s negativity, combined with their willingness to break up play by fouling the opposition, was starting to frustrate Argentina.

And there had been the occasional indication that Greece could trouble the Albiceleste’s backline, with two long-range passes in particular catching Demichelis out of position.

Even so, Greece, who lost 4-0 to Argentina at the 1994 World Cup in a match that saw Maradona score his 34th and final international goal, had not mustered an effort at goal by the interval and the superb atmosphere at kick-off had waned considerably.

Unfortunately, the contest somehow managed to deteriorate further in the opening minutes of the second half, although Greece did at least get a shot at goal.

Demichelis again found himself isolated after another long ball towards Georgios Samaras, who looked set to pounce after a slip by the Bayern Munich defender but the Greek forward shot wide.

There was a continued lack of urgency to the contest, although virtually everything of worth came from Maradona’s side, with Tzorvas palming a Messi free-kick around the post and saving a header from defensive midfielder Mario Bolatti.

For all Greece’s defensive exploits they almost gifted their opponents a goal with a piece of comical defending when Tzorvas smashed a clearance into Vangelis Moras and was slightly fortunate to see the ball fly wide of his goal.

But after Argentina opened the scoring, the Greek side fell away.

Reflecting on their second World Cup campaign, they will have to be content with having registered their first World Cup win, having beaten Nigeria on Thursday.