Greece beats Israel 2-1 in World Cup qualifier

IRAKLIO, Crete - Dimitris Salpigidis and substitute Georgios Samaras scored a goal each to help Greece beat Israel 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier.

Salpigidis beat Israel goalkeeper Dudu Awat in the 32nd minute, shooting through defenders from outside the area after a corner kick was badly cleared.

Substitute Elyaniv Barda leveled for Israel in the 60th minute during a lapse in the Greek defense, before Samaras scored foom the penalty spot seven minutes later. Portuguese referee Olegario Benqueranca awarded the spot kick after Baram Kayal brought down Greece defender Vassilis Torosidis.

"Everything's good. Everything's good," Samaras said. "We're looking forward to the next game."

The result kept Greece at the top of Group 2 with 13 points, the same as Switzerland. Israel still has nine points.

The Israelis came alive when Yossi Benayoun came on in the second half, but the hosts, with several regulars benched, missed a string of chances at the Pankritio Stadium.

Greece captain Angelos Basinas played for the last six minutes to make his 100th appearance for the national team.

Lineups:Greece: Costas Chalkias, Giourkas Seitaridis, Vassilis Torossidis, Vangelis Moras, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Avraam Papadopoulos, Costas Katsouranis, Giorgos Karagounis (Christos Patsatzoglou, 70), Fanis Gekas (Georgios Samaras, 63), Dimitris Salpigidis, Angelos Charisteas (Angelos Basinas, 84)). Israel: Dudu Awat, Klemi Saban, Tal Ben Haim, Gal Alberman, Dedi Ben Dayan, Baram Kayal, Etey Schechter (Barak Itzhaki, 74), Omer Golan, Dekel Keinan, Yoav Ziv (Elyaniv Barda, 40), Ben Sahar (Yossi Benayoun, 46).