Greece are ahead of Russia 1-0 at halftime of their Euro 2012 group stage finale in the most unlikely, but typically Greek, circumstances possible. For 45 minutes, Greece did almost nothing going forward, but took advantage of a defensive lapse in stoppage time to score a stunning goal against the run of play at the end of what was previously a spectacularly dull half of football.
The opening minutes of the game were entertaining, however. Konstantinos Katsouranis forced a save out of Vyacheslav Malafeev in the 6th minute, which seemed to signal that Greece had some attacking intent, but it was their first truly dangerous foray forward. Russia picked up the pace for a few minutes afterwards and created a couple of decent half-chances, but things settled down around the 20th minute. For the next 25 minutes, almost nothing happened as both teams looked very content to head into the half tied 0-0.
Then, a massive error at the back for Russia. Yuri Zhirkov attempted to head a Greek throw-in ... well, it's not entirely clear what on earth he was trying to do, but the result was a nearly perfect through ball for Giorgos Karagounis. He was sent clear through on goal and hit a calm and composed finish past Malafeev, giving his team an unlikely lead just before the halftime whistle.
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