Greece-
Gekas: Four goal hero
Greece kept their slim hopes of World Cup automatic qualification alive with an emphatic 5-2 fightback against Latvia.
Theofanis Gekas stole the show at the Karaiaskasis Stadium after finding the net on four occasions in Saturday's seven goal thriller.
Gekas, who spent the tail-end of last season on loan at Portsmouth, opened the scoring in the fourth minute to give the hosts a much-craved lead.
But Latvia, who were also in the hunt for a spot to the South Africa finals, soon levelled through Maris Verpakovskis before the striker added a second five minutes before half-time.
The visitors' lead lasted just two minutes as Gekas scored his second of the night via the penalty spot and then grabbed a hat-trick in the 57th minute to put the Greeks back ahead.
And Otto Rehhagel's side never looked back as Celtic striker Georgios Samaras added a fourth before Gekas completed the scoring in stoppage time.
Brink
The result sees Greece remain three points from top-spot but they will have to hope that Switzerland lose their last fixture after they beat Luxembourg 3-0.
A quickfire double from Phillippe Senderos and a Benjamin Huggel goal blasted away minnows Luxembourg as Switzerland closed in on qualification for South Africa at the Josy Barthel Stadium.
The Swiss travelled to Luxembourg City knowing that four points from their remaining two fixtures would secure their spot for next year's finals.
And the game was only six minutes old when Arsenal defender Senderos opened the scoring in what played out as a one-sided affair.
The Gunners man, who has been on the fringes for the Premier League outfit this season, was not finished there though as he doubled his tally for the game and gave the visitors a two-goal lead just two minutes later.
The contest was over before half-time as Basel midfielder Huggel added a third in the 22nd minute.
Israel took full advantage of Latvia's slip as they leaf-frogged them into third spot thanks to a 3-1 victory against bottom-placed Moldova.
Elganiv Barda grabbed a brace for the hosts and Deddi Ben Dayan added a third before Denis Calincov scored a 90th minute consolation for the Group Two whipping boys.
