Two goals from set-pieces against Luxembourg saw Greece tie up a play-off place as FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 2 runners-up, but their performance in Athens was not one for the scrapbook.

Greece finished just one point behind Switzerland after the Swiss could only manage a 0-0 draw with Israel at home.

A 10,000 crowd at the Olympic Stadium was modest by usual standards, and Greece put in a subdued display.

They took the lead on the half-hour with Vassilis Torosidis heading in Giorgos Karagounis’s corner, and three minutes later Fanis Gekas found the net from a Karagounis free-kick.

It was Gekas’ tenth goal of the campaign, making him the top scorer in the European qualifying tournament.

Gekas had one goal more than England’s Wayne Rooney.

Greece’s task ought to have become considerably easier after Ben Payal was dismissed for a 58th-minute challenge on Dimitris Salpingidis, and the victim of that foul should have made it 3-0 on 76 minutes, shooting against the post with Luxembourg goalkeeper Jonathan Joubert beaten.

The visitors then provided a sting in the tail with a laughable Avraam Papadopoulos own goal denying Michalis Sifakis a clean sheet on his international debut.

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel admitted after the match that his side will have to improve if they want to be successful at the play-offs and reach the World Cup finals.

“If we do want to qualify to the World Cup we must play better than we did in the second half,” said the German manager.

“When you face a team that play defensively you have to be fast, with quick passing of the ball. The psychology played its part, too. We had to change the team, we had men missing and we had been expecting to see whether [Costas] Katsouranis would play after falling ill,” he added.

Greece skipper Giorgos Karagounis commented on the criticism levelled at Rehhagel that the German has always had the same pattern of selection, opting for players with little or no games of recent.

He also suggested that the national team missed out on the top spot due to their own errors but they are determined to take this second chance they have and qualify from the play-offs.

There was better news on the situation of Sotiris Kyrgiakos late last week. The Liverpool central defender who was substituted after a dangerous foul by Luxembourg was expected to stay out of action for four months due to a cruciate ligament rupture.

However, further examination on Thursday showed that the damage was smaller, with Kyrgiakos probably suffering no more than a bad bruising that will keep him sidelined for up to a month.

This means he might even be available for the World Cup qualification play-offs on November 14 and 18.