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FORTALEZA, Brazil -- Georgios Samaras scored an injury-time penalty to send Greece into the second round of the World Cup for the first time with a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast on Tuesday, eliminating the Africans in the process. Samaras was adjudged to have been tripped in the area by substitute Giovanni Sio, and calmly slotted in the spot kick for a win that puts Greece through to the knockout stage. Ivory Coast would have advanced with a draw. "This means so much to me, to us ... Tonight we had energy," Samaras said, dedicating the win to Greeks suffering through financial crisis. "We really hope we can make the people happy back home. We are a team. A team -- thats it." In Athens, where the game ended well after midnight, thousands of fans poured into the streets to celebrate. The players in Fortaleza danced around in a circle and sang with small groups of travelling fans at Arena Castelao who had been drowned out all night by the pro-African Brazilian crowd. The Greeks had taken the lead just before halftime through substitute Andreas Samaris, who punished Ivorian Ismael Tiote for a careless pass backward. Substitute Wilfried Bony equalized for Ivory Coast in the 74th, beating goalkeeper Pangiotis Glykos from close range after being set up by Gervinho. That goal looked like it would put the Africans through until the late drama. Samaras met a cross in the area and tried to shoot with his left leg, which got caught against the leg of Sio. Samaras foot then hit the ground and he fell to the turf, drawing a penalty. With his countrys hopes on the line, Samaras sent his spot kick past goalkeeper Boubacar Barry, who guessed the right way but couldnt keep the ball out. "We came here to advance from the group stage. Weve never done it before, and we did tonight in a great way," said Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis, a veteran of the team that won the European Championship in 2004. "The goal should have come earlier. So God helped us in the end and we all thank him. We prevailed against the odds. We had passion and we had fight." Veteran striker Didier Drogba started for Ivory Coast along with Yaya and Kolo Toure despite the recent death of their brother Ibrahim. The Ivorians wore black armbands as a sign of mourning. "The Ivory Coast is a great football nation. And this was a cruel game, a cruel game," Ivory Coast coach Sabri Lamouchi said. "After so much hard work and so much sacrifice, all of us and everyone in the Ivory Coast is very sad." Greece, which had failed to score in the previous two Group C matches, finished second in Group C with four points, behind winner Colombia with nine. Ivory Coast had three and Japan one. On Tuesday, the Greeks missed a handful of scoring chances against Ivory Coast, hitting the crossbar twice with shots from distance. The Greeks were also forced to make two early substitutions after valuable midfielder Pangiotis Kone and goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis were injured in the first half. "We found balance tonight. We are not the worst team when we lose or the best when we win," Greece coach Fernando Santos said. "To everyone in Greece I say: Go out into the street and celebrate." ------ Lineups: Greece: Orestis Karnezis (Panagiotis Glykos, 24), Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Kostas Manolas, Jose Holebas, Vassilis Torosidis, Giannis Maniatis, Panagiotis Kone (Andreas Samaris, 12), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Giorgos Karagounis (Fanis Gekas, 77), Georgios Samaras, Dimitris Salpingidis. Ivory Coast: Baboucar Barry, Souleymane Bamba, Arthur Boka, Kolo Toure, Serge Aurier, Ismael Tiote (Wilfried Bony, 61), Yaya Toure, Die Serey, Didier Drogba (Ismaael Diomande, 78), Solomon Kalou, Gervinho (Giovanno Sio, 83). Tyler Herro Jersey . Off-season additions Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley did not train with the club today, prompting Nelsen to declare its too early to tell if either will be ready for Saturday. Derrick Jones Heat Jersey . - The Cleveland Indians will place centerfielder Michael Bourn on the disabled list before their opener at Oakland on March 31. https://www.heatlockerroom.com/Jeremiah-Martin-City-Edition-Jersey/ . Pospisil, whose season-ending goal is to improve his ATP Tour ranking enough to qualify for one of the 32 seedings at Januarys Australian Open, dominated Karlovic in 59 minutes. The world No. 40 never faced a break point and limited the big mans threatening ace count to a mere eight, while striking five key aces of his own. Dion Waiters Jersey . Ramon, 30, played in a career-high 97 games with the Goldeyes in 2013. He also matched a career-high eight home runs and posted 52 RBI. Kelly Olynyk Jersey .Before a raucous sellout crowd, the Hawks won for the 29th time in 31 games to extend their Eastern-best record to 36-8.As usual, pretty much everyone chipped in.Four starters were in double figures and backup point guard Dennis Schroder led a spurt at the start of the fourth quarter that helped the Hawks pull away.One day after their 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, and still without top defenceman Dion Phaneuf as he serves the second of his two-game suspension, the Toronto Maple Leafs will head to St. Louis to take on Alexander Steen and the Blues Thursday night. Cody Franson scored and Jonathan Bernier made 20 stops for the Leafs, but they still stumbled to their seventh loss in nine outings Wednesday against LA. "That was much closer to what we need," Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle. "Hey, were third in the Eastern Conference in goals scored. Its on the defensive side where our work ethic and commitment hasnt been there." Phaneuf was out of the lineup, serving the first game of his two-game suspension however, winger Joffrey Lupul returned after missing seven games in a row due to a groin strain. He has eight goals and 15 points in 22 contests before the injury. Carlyle could give James Reimer his first career start versus the Blues tonight. Bernier is 2-1-0 with a 2.99 GAA in four starts against them. The Blues meanwhile, look to secure a second straight victory on Thursday night against the struggling Leafs. The Blues had lost three of four ahead of Tuesdays 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Alexander Steen had a second-period goal and Kevin Shattenkirk put home the deciding goal while on the power play with 3:02 remaining in the game. Shattenkirks third goal of the season changed direction on the way to the net after he took a feed from Derek Roy. "Sometimes you gett rewarded with a couple lucky ones and it was a great game by both teams," said Shattenkirk.dddddddddddd Brian Elliott stopped 20 shots for the Blues, who reached the 20-win plateau by claiming their seventh victory in the last 10 outings. "Our goalie made some great saves and I think we were getting nervous when we didnt score on some opportunities, but I really like the way we fought," said Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock. Steen, a former first-round pick by Toronto in 2002, scored his first goal in five games and his 21st of the season. That is tied for second most in the NHL and three off his career high of 24 scored with the Blues in 2009-10. That season was Steens first full one in St. Louis after getting dealt by Toronto along with defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo for Lee Stempniak on Nov. 24, 2008. The 29-year-old Steen has two goals in three career games versus Toronto. Steen will look to give Elliott some more support tonight with the netminder set to get the call again. He is 5-1-1 with a 2.04 goals against average and .919 save percentage in 10 games this season, including seven starts. Elliott has allowed two goals or fewer in five of those starts. The goaltender is 3-5-1 with a 3.07 GAA in 10 previous meetings with the Leafs, who were in action last night and lost a 3-1 decision to the Los Angeles Kings. The Maple Leafs have won two straight versus the Blues, both in a shootout, following a three-game series losing streak. They notched a 3-2 win in their last trip to St. Louis on Nov. 10, 2011. ' ' '