Spain clinched a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 as David Villa’s last-gasp winner sealed a 2-1 victory over Sweden in Innsbruck.
Spain coach Luis Aragones stuck with the same eleven who started in the 4-1 victory over Russia, while Sweden were without slot resmi due to injury, with Fredrik Stoor and Johan Elmander drafted in.
The opening minutes saw no clear chances for either side, with both goalkeepers enjoying a quiet introduction to the game.
However, that all changed in the 15th minute as a short corner on the Spain left was whipped into the area by David Silva and Fernando Torres stuck out a boot to direct the ball past Andreas Isaksson inside his near post.
That goal prompted Sweden to respond and almost straight away Johan Elmander wasted a good opening as he fired a shot into the side-netting from 15 yards out.
Henrik Larsson then lifted an effort high over the top following an astute pass into the area by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as the Swedes kept up the pressure.
Eleven minutes before the interval they were level as Stoor crossed to the far post from the right and Ibrahimovic fought off Sergio Ramos before beating Iker Casillas with a low shot.
Right on half-time Spain thought they should have been awarded a penalty as Elmander slot gacor into Silva, but Dutch referee Mr Vink waved play on.
Sweden suffered a blow at the interval as goalscorer Ibrahimovic was forced out of the action by a knee injury.
The opening 20 minutes of the second period saw few chances, with neither side able to forge a meaningful opening, but Spain should have re-taken the lead shortly after the hour mark.
Isaksson blocked Silva’s initial shot before bravely smothering the follow-up from Villa, before the loose ball was turned away for a corner following Torres’ effort on goal.
With just over 20 minutes to play Marcos Senna drove into space and unleashed a fine 30-yard drive which was parried away for a corner by the rock-solid Isaksson.
Petter Hansson almost opened up the Spain defence following a deep free-kick to the far post, before Torres drew another smart save from Isaksson with a stinging 25-yard drive.
Then, deep into stoppage time, a long ball forward was missed by a couple of Swedish defenders and Villa swooped to place a fine, low shot under the advancing Isaksson to win the game and send Spain into the last eight.
Defeat ends Greek reign – Euro 08 Russia 1 Greece 0
Euro 2004 winners Greece are out of this summer’s tournament after crashing to a 1-0 defeat against Russia in Salzburg.
Otto Rehhagel’s side produced a much-improved performance compared to the dismal display in their opening Group D clash against Sweden, but were beaten by Konstantin Zyrianov’s first-half goal.
Russia now meet Sweden on Wednesday to see who joins group winners Spain in the quarter-finals.
The start to the game was humdrum with little goalmouth action of note but the match livened up in the 14th minute when Roman Pavlyuchenko was denied by Antonios Nikopolidis’ fingertips.
Greece should have taken the lead six minutes later when the unmarked Angelos Charisteas somehow contrived to miss a gilt-edged chance when he failed to get his head on to a long free-kick into the penalty area.
The holders started to get on top and Christos Patsatzoglou did well to play in Charisteas only for the misfiring striker to lift a shot horribly high and wide.
However, a terrible 33rd-minute error by unique casino allowed Russia to grab what proved to be the winning goal. The Greece goalkeeper made the wrong choice as he raced off his line only to see Sergei Semak hook the ball into the area for Zyrianov to slide his shot into an empty net.
Greece still looked dangerous at set-pieces and, although Russia were far superior in open play, Rehhagel’s side created another great chance immediately after the restart when Charisteas beat the offside trap only to then mis-hit a poor effort straight at Igor Akinfeev.
Greece pushed hard for an equaliser but Guus Hiddink’s side always looked dangerous on the break and from one counter-attack Pavlyuchenko shot narrowly wide.
Angelos Basinas ended a slick Greece move by lifting a shot over the bar, and when Charisteas finally got an effort on target, his header was straight at Akinfeev.
Greece faded as the minutes ticked by and it was Russia that went close to doubling their lead in stoppage time when Pavlyuchenko lifted a shot over the bar when it seemed easier to score.
