Giorgios Samaras hails "proud" achievement

Giorgios Samaras has said that he is "proud" to have helped fire Greece into the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time.

The 29-year-old striker scored a 92nd-minute penalty against Ivory Coast to secure the Ethniki's progress through the group stage at their opponents expense.

Following the historic triumph, Samaras is quoted by ESPN as saying: "I don't remember anything during the penalty. I wanted to give happiness to all our people back home. We are proud for what we did. I hope we give some joy to our people back home.

"We played better than Ivory Coast. We had opportunities to finish this match after 1-0, but we never stopped believing that we can qualify until the last minute. We are proud for this team and I hope all of Greece are proud of us."

Greece will face Costa Rica on Sunday in the next round.