Daniel Kaufmann picked up his second yellow in minute 60 after having been booked only two minutes prior, leaving Liechtenstein to cope with ten players. A through ball breakaway chance was converted by Edgars Gauracs to put the home side up two goals. Latvia win 2-0.
A loud crowd gathered in Zenica to cheer on Bosnia and Herzegovina as they took on Lithuania. The match was decided in a twelve-minute run that began just before the half hour mark. Miralem Pjanic is the creator in the Bosnian midfield, and he came through tonight. For the first goal, he nutmegged his defender with a short through ball that allowed Vedad Ibisevic to latch on at full speed and delivered a roof finish for 1-0. Six minutes later, another Pjanic assist was recorded when his pass to the penalty spot was converted by Edin Dzeko, who had run free of his marker in the process. Dzeko paid his teammate back after a bit of excellent hold up play. Dzeko fielded the ball with his back to goal and drew a double team before turning and chipping a cross that was knocked home on the half volley by Pjanic. Twelve minutes of genius gave Bosnia a 3-0 lead at halftime.
The second half was much more subdued. In fact, Lithuania had the only two real chances in the period, but neither was well-taken. Bosnia win 3-0 to remain atop the Group G standings with six matches left to play.
Slovakia hoped that some home cooking Bratislava would be the recipe for success against a stubborn Greece defense as both teams needed a win to keep pace with high-flying Bosnia. Slovakia were the better team for much of the night, but that often is not enough to beat the Piratiko. With seven minutes left in the half, Slovakia attacking midfielder Marek Hamsik had a chance at goal, but his shot grazed the outside of the post. Slovakia really should have scored after a nice one-two-one play beat the Greek defense, but over-dribbling led to the initial chance being knocked away by a sliding goalkeeper, but the rebound led to an open shot. Greece center back Nikos Spiropoulos retreated to the goal line during the play and was there to clear the shot off the line. The half ended 0-0 with Greece lucky to be even.
Slovakia took a few long distance shots in the hopes that the rain would cause a mistake, but they were never rewarded for the strategy. A frustrated Slovakia team had one defensive lapse during the match, and it cost them dearly. A ball fell wide of the penalty box after an initial clearance. Greece captain Konstantinos Katsouranis played a ball in to Dimitrios Salpingidis. Salpingidis had been played onside by Martin Skrtel, who compounded his mistake by allowing Salpingidis to stay goal side of him for multiple seconds. Slovakia had two chances for the equalizer in the final five minutes, but neither one fell with the better of the two being a Michal Breznanik laser that met the crossbar and the point at the same time and flew many yards out of bounds of the rebound. Greece hold on to win 1-0 in typical Greek fashion.
Bosnia 10 pts +13
Greece 10 pts +4
Slovakia 7 pts +2
Lithuania 4 pts -3
Latvia 3 pts -3
Liechtenstein 0 pts -12
Goals
Latvia
Vladimirs Kamess 29
Edgars Gauracs 77
Bosnia
Vedad Ibisevic 29
Edin Dzeko 35
Miralem Pjanic 41
Greece
Dimitrios Salpingidis 63
Match Reports:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785743/index.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/oct/18/bosnia-herzegovina-world-cup
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785745/index.html
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite5_1_16/10/2012_466351
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1785783/index.html
Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LyMjDPHMDg (Latvia v. Liechtenstein)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6JCX4x_-eY (Bosnia v. Lithuania)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9-NUVnucKw&feature=related (Greece v. Slovakia)
Full Match Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwmdWGnA3-Y (Bosnia v. Lithuania: 1st half)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw_mm-JSLtc&feature=relmfu (Bosnia v. Lithuania: 2nd half)
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