Greece thumps Gibraltar to claim play-off spot

Greece thumped Gibraltar 4-0 on Tuesday to claim second place in its World Cup qualifying group and a spot in the European play-off round.

Published : Oct 11, 2017 02:48 IST , Athens

Greece's Kostas Mitroglou (right) celebrates after scoring the third goal for his team, with Vasilis Torosidis (left) and Petros Mantalos in Athens on Tuesday.
Greece's Kostas Mitroglou (right) celebrates after scoring the third goal for his team, with Vasilis Torosidis (left) and Petros Mantalos in Athens on Tuesday.
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Greece's Kostas Mitroglou (right) celebrates after scoring the third goal for his team, with Vasilis Torosidis (left) and Petros Mantalos in Athens on Tuesday.

Greece thumped Gibraltar 4-0 on Tuesday to claim second place in its World Cup qualifying group and a spot in the European playoff round.

READ: European champion Portugal trumps Swiss to book World Cup berth

The Greeks had to wait for more than half an hour to break down its table-propping opponent, finally going ahead when captain Vasilis Torosidis scored with a diving header from Zeca's cross in the 32nd minute. Striker Kostas Mitroglou scored twice in three minutes just after the hour and substitute Giannis Gianniotas claimed the fourth in the 78th minute.

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Greece finished behind Belgium with 19 points from 10 games in Group H to ensure it progressed to the play-offs as one of the best eight runner-upS in the nine European groups. Slovakia, which was second in Group F, missed out on a play-off spot.

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