Prime Minister George Papandreou hailed Greece’s first victory ever at soccer’s World Cup, saying the come-from-behind win over Nigeria offered a “glimmer of light” after months of “bad” economic news. Papandreou delayed the start of his press conference after a European Union summit in Brussels today to watch the end of the game, which Greece won 2-1 in host nation South Africa. Greece had lost its four previous World Cup matches without scoring a goal.
“The boys on the national team made us proud,” said Papandreou, who was forced in April to ask other euro-area governments and the International Monetary Fund for an unprecedented loan package to avoid a debt default. “In such a period when Greece has gone through a lot of bad news, it was a very important glimmer of light for us all.”
Papandreou, imposing austerity measures to reduce a Greek budget deficit that was more than four times the EU limit last year, thanked the team’s German coach, its captain and its two goal scorers by name.
The Nigerian team opened the scoring in the 15th minute and was left with 10 men from the 33rd minute, when one of its players was ejected for kicking out at a Greek player during a stoppage in play. Greece tied the game at the end of the first half and scored the winning goal in the second half.
18.06.2010
