held on to take a 1-0 second-round series lead against the Knights.

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. Ryan Helsley Cardinals Jersey . 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). Genesis Cabrera Cardinals Jersey . - The Oakland Athletics have finalized an agreement on a 10-year extension to play at the Coliseum through the 2024 season. Marcell Ozuna Cardinals Jersey . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/314t-tim-mccarver-jersey-cardinals.html .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season.SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists and Dane Fox scored once and set up three more as the Erie Otters blanked the host Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4-0 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League playoff action. Devin Williams stopped all 33 shots he faced for the Otters, who lead the second-round series 2-0, while Brendan Gaunce added a single goal. Regular-season scoring leader Connor Brown tacked on three assists for Erie and has three goals and 12 points in seven post-season games. Sault Ste. Maries Matt Murray stopped 36-of-40 shots in defeat. --- GENERALS 3 PETES 0 OSHAWA, Ont. -- Generals goaltender Daniel Altshuller needed to make just 18 saves to earn a shutout and a victory over Peterborough in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series. Oshawa scored three power-play goals on nine attempts, with Cole Cassels, Scott Laughton and Hunter Smith supplying all the Generals offence. The Petes failed to score on four chances with the man advantage. Peterboroughs Andrew DAgostini made 40 saves in the losing effort. --- STORM 6 KNIGHTS 4 GUELPH, OOnt. Austin Gomber Cardinals Jersey. -- Matt Finn and Scott Kosmachuk had a goal and an assist apiece as the Storm held on to take a 1-0 second-round series lead against the Knights. Robby Fabbri and Pius Suter scored shorthanded goals for Guelph, which led 4-0 before London responded with four straight goals of their own. Justin Auger broke the 4-4 tie at 17:54 of the third, and Kerby Rychel added an empty-net goal with nine seconds to play. Max Domi had two goals for London while Michael McCarron and Ryan Rupert had the others. Guelphs Justin Nichols made 32 saves for the win. Knights goaltender Jake Patterson turned aside 34 shots in the losing effort. --- BATTALION 1 COLTS 0 NORTH BAY, Ont. -- Alex Henriksson scored the lone goal of the game to give the Battalion a 1-0 series lead over the Colts in their second-round matchup. Henriksson found the back of the net at 15:28 of the third period, with Brett McKenzie and Zach Bratina picking up the assists. North Bay goaltender Jake Smith stopped 21 shots for the shutout, while Barries Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves in the loss. ' ' '