With the country of Greece is on the verge of economic failure due to the enormous debt-crisis that is happening right now, it seems the last thing the country wants to do is spend a bunch of money towards their soccer team to travel and stay safe in South Africa. For the 2010 World Cup, the Greece national football team are looking to brighten the hope for its debt-ridden homeland but not just for the Greek citizens, but for the whole world. You can say that Greece is one of the few countries that are not trying to prove the point of playing well, but to show the world that they have hope through friendly competition. 6 years ago, they shocked the world by beating Portugal on their home turf in Euro 2004, now in South Africa it's another chance for the Greeks to shock the world again.
Qualification: Greece finished 2nd in Group 2 behind Switzerland, and advanced to the playoff rounds, where they would face Ukraine. In the first leg at home, both teams couldn't score and the game ended 0-0, and advantage for Ukraine as they head back home to play the second leg. Unluckly, Salpigidis scored one for Greece in the 31st minute, and Ukraine did not have the motivation to score 2 more goals. Greece advanced to the World Cup for the 2nd time in history.
The team: Coach Otto Rehhagel leads Greece's first World Cup in the new millenium, and even though he has been coach since 2001, he is new to the World Cup. With much experience behind him and with many veteran players from he Euro 2004, Greece are still new to the World Cup, since the history of the team has developed in recent years. What you can expect from Greece is a goalkeeper surrounded by many stronger defenders since Greece is a very defensive team, and only take charge on counter attacks, which is also led by stronger and taller strikers. This team may be strong, but they aren't too fast, a disadvantage when they are playing against faster teams like Argentina and Nigeria.
Probable Starting Lineup:
------------------------Chalkias------鈥?br>
------Papadopoulos---Vyntra---Kyrgiako鈥?br>
Seitaridis----------------------------鈥?br>
-------------Patsatzoglou---Katsourani鈥?br>
----------------------Karagounis (c)--------------------
--------------Charisteas---Gekas------鈥?br>
Stars to watch:
Theofanis Gekas: Bayern Leverkusen's striker netted in 10 goals during Greece's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Angelos Charisteas: Portugal remembers him for stealing the European Championship trophy from them off a header, will he score another shocker again?
Giorgios Karagounis: The captain and one of the most experienced players on the team, will be the center man for the counter attack.
Verdict: Defence-minded Greece are not one of the favorites to advance into the next round, but with the debt-crisis the country is in right now, that could be the inspiration for a shock run by the team. They are not the ones to win the World Cup, but are one of the teams that are giving hope to their economic-collapsing country, and hope is what Greece needs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X2KC-j5I鈥?/a>
Question: Who will score Greece's first World Cup goal?|||Theofanis Gekas
For all that talk about defense, they finished with a goal differential the same as switzerland having given up more goal than them. Its difficult to say whether they will make the round of 16 or not because they are up against Argentina and Ghana who I think are better teams.|||You might as well follow Slovakia|||Now you'll tell me that your name is Claude I suppose|||Greece has no chance of winning the world cup
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