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Greece’s Giorgio Karagounis Drew A Penalty In The Box, Was Given A Yellow For Flopping Instead

Here’s today’s example of a great play gone terribly awry: With his team leading 1-0, Greece’s Giorgio Karagounis made a spectacular run, slicing through the Russian defense with relative ease. As he entered the box, Russia’s Sergei Ignashevich clipped Karagounis, causing him to tumble to the ground.

Although Karagounis may have embellished the fall, there’s no doubt that contact was made and a penalty shot should have been awarded. To make matters worse, Karagounis received a yellow card for the flop, his second of group play, and will be forced to miss Greece’s next match. Karagounis was devastated that the call didn’t go his way (as you can see in the above screencap), and, as our own CJ Fogler notes, was crossing himself as if he witnessed a murder.

Despite unrelenting pressure from the Russian attack, the play was ultimately irrelevant as Greece snuck away with a 1-0 victory. Russia only needed a draw to advance but simply couldn’t get the job done. Greece, meanwhile, needed victory and will now advance to the next round of Euro 2012.

Video via CJ Fogler