Kostas Katsouranis was sent off in the 37th minute of the game, but Japan could not take advantage as their World Cup chances hang in the balance.
Greece's Panagiotis Kone had the first chance of the game, he broke from midfield but his drilled effort went straight at Eiji Kawashima. This was though Greece's only real chance of the first half, as Japan started to assert their dominance. The impressive Yūya Ōsako had two chances in the space of a few minutes, the first was a weak effort straight into the hands of the keeper, the second curled effort from just outside the box that troubled Orestis Karnezis but it went just past the post
Dead-ball specialist, Keisuke Honda, had the next chance. He dipped a costless-kick over the wall and again it forced Orestis Karnezis into a save, as he panicked and flapped at the ball, but he managed to get it to safety. The next incident in the game was the sending off; Kostas Katsouranis produced a terrible tackle as he fouled Japan's Makoto Hasebe, meaning a second yellow card was shown.
For a brief moment though it seemed that the sending off spurred on the Greek side, in this period their best chance was created but they squandered it, Vasilis Torosidis attempted a through ball but it bounced back to him, he then unleashed a powerful drive but it was excellently saved by Eiji Kawashima by just one hand.
The second-half was less exciting, as Greece just parked the bus and soaked up the pressure. While Japan had the possession, they couldn't produce the goods. Greece though did have a golden chance to steal the game from under the noses of Japan. Greek veteran, Theofanis Gekas, pealed away from the defender at the back post and won the header; his header did though take a deflection, then as quick as a flash Eiji Kawashima pulled off an acrobatic save to foil his opponent.
