Athens, June 12: Greece seized a vital 1-0 win over a stubborn Ukraine side in a Euro 2004 qualifying Group Six match played in Athens on Wednesday (June 11) thanks to a late strike from Angelos Haristeas. Greece came into the match full of confidence after beating group leaders Spain 1-0 last Saturday (June 7) and dominated the match in the first half. Goalkeeper Oleksandr Shokovsky denied the Greeks almost single-handedly early on as he palmed away a 14th-minute Stelios Giannakopoulos penalty after Sergiy Rebrov had fouled Takis Fyssas. Captain Andriy Shevchenko provided a solitary outlet for the visitors, but the AC Milan striker's only worthy attempt was pushed over the bar by Greek goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis 13 minutes into the second half. Ukraine's backline continued to withstand a Greek barrage and looked likely to sneak a point until a pinpoint 86th-minute cross from substitute Vassilis Tsartas was toe-poked in by Haristeas.


In injury time, Ukraine almost produced an equaliser, but Nikopolidis blocked well at the feet of two Ukrainian strikers to preserve Greece's win.


With Spain being held to a 0-0 draw in Belfast by Northern Ireland, Greece are the new leaders of Group Six on 12 points one ahead of Spain and Ukraine.


With an away game in Armenia and a home game against bottom side Northern Ireland to come, Greece now have their fate in their own hands as they try and qualify for a major finals for the first time in a decade.


Teams: Greece: 1-Antonis Nikopolidis; 2-Yourkas Seitaridis, 3-Takis Fyssas, 4-Nikos Dabizas, 5-Traianos Dellas, 6-Michalis Kapsis, 7-Thodoris Zagorakis (14-Vassilis Tsartas, 72), 8-Zisis Vryzas (17-Angelos Haristeas, 46), 9-Vassilis Lakis (18-Lambros Houtos, 65), 10-Giorgos Karagounis, 11-Stelios Giannakopoulos


Ukraine: 1-Oleksandr Shovovsky; 2-Andriy Nesmachnyy, 3-Sergey Fedorov, 4-Oleksandr Holovko, 5-Anatoliy Tymoschuk, 6-Vyacheslav Shevchuk, 7-Andriy Shevchenko, 8-Andriy Gusin, 9-Sergiy Zakarlyuka, 10-Andriy Voronin, 11-Sergiy Rebrov (16-Andriy Vorobyy, 61) Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium)


Group 6 standings: P W D L F A Pts 1. Greece 6 4 0 2 6 4 12 2. Spain 6 3 2 1 10 3 11 3. Ukraine 6 2 3 1 10 8 9 4. Armenia 5 1 1 3 6 11 4 5. Northern Ireland 5 0 2 3 0 6 2


Remaining matches: September 6 Armenia v Greece Ukraine v Northern Ireland September 10 Northern Ireland v Armenia Spain v Ukraine October 11 Greece v Northern Ireland Armenia v Spain


Bureau Report