Vassilis Torosidis scored the only goal as Greece got the first win of their UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying campaign when they beat Group F opponents Latvia at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium in Athens, in a game that the home side dominated.

Olympiakos right-back Torosidis scored in the 57th minute after sustained pressure from Greece.

He cut in from the right, evaded two Latvian defenders and then played a one-two with Kostas Katsouranis on the edge of the box before curling a shot into the corner past goalkeeper Andris Vanins.

Torosidis had been booked for diving in the first half and will miss Greece's next game, at home to Israel on Tuesday.

Greece coach Fernando Santos sent out an attacking line-up after Celtic forward Georgios Samaras passed a late fitness test. He was joined in attack by Olympiakos' Kostas Mitroglou and Sotiris Ninis of Panathinaikos.

Mitroglou, who has hardly featured for his club side this season, missed a host of chances in both halves before being replaced in the 84th minute by Olympiakos team-mate Ioannis Fetfatzidis, who was making his senior international debut.

The game was also a landmark for Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis who was making his 100th appearance for the national team. Karagounis also saw several long-range shots go wide of the goal.

Latvia rarely threatened during the 90 minutes. Their best chance came just before half-time when Maris Verpakovskis raced away but was tackled in the area by Giorgos Tzavelas before he could get his shot away.