Giorgios Samaras has said that he is "proud" to have helped fire Greece into the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time.

The 29-year-old striker scored a 92nd-minute penalty against Ivory Coast to secure the Ethniki's progress through the group stage at their opponents expense.

Following the historic triumph, Samaras is quoted by ESPN as saying: "I don't remember anything during the penalty. I wanted to give happiness to all our people back home. We are proud for what we did. I hope we give some joy to our people back home.

"We played better than Ivory Coast. We had opportunities to finish this match after 1-0, but we never stopped believing that we can qualify until the last minute. We are proud for this team and I hope all of Greece are proud of us."

Greece will face Costa Rica on Sunday in the next round.