World Cup Team Profiles: Group B: Greece

Teams / Ari Last / 17 February 2010 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Boring or resilient? Either way, the Greeks know how to win football matches and in Otto Rehagal they hold a trump card...

Is there a more obdurate side in world football than Greece? They shocked the world in 2004 when they won the European Championships, and they'll be looking to the man they call 'Maestro' - Otto Rehhagel - to steer them on the right path once more. Though at odds of [240.0] to win it, and with them being third favourites at [2.36] to get out of the group, few seem to believe that the German can orchestrate what would be another monumental upset.

Nation: Greece

Also known as...
The 'Galanoleyki'

Road to South Africa...
Greece qualified via a play-off against the Ukraine, after finishing runners-up to Switzerland in Group 2. Other than the Swiss, who defeated them twice, Otto Rehagal's men were relatively unchallenged and picked up victories over Israel, Latvia, Luxembourg and Moldova. Their victory in the play-off over Ukraine epitomised much of what is good about the Greek side. After drawing 0-0 in Athens they went to Donetsk and emerged with a decisive 1-0 win, a fine triumph which owed much to their steely resilience and tactical nous.

World Cup Pedigree...
Greece have only appeared in one World Cup before, back in 1994, where they failed to pick up a single point or score a single goal. They'll be hoping to improve upon that showing this time around and will be relishing the prospect of gaining some kind of revenge on Nigeria and Argentina, who beat them 2-0 and 4-0 respectively, 16 years ago in the USA.

They'll be relying on...
Making the most of their set-pieces. Greece keep clean sheets like they're going out of fashion, but they're also very good at eking out crucial goals at crucial times, with set-pieces playing a major role in their meticulous game-plan. Never was this more evident than when they won the Euros in 2004, and if they end up doing well in South Africa, it is likely to be down to them getting their offensive free-kicks and corners absolutely spot on.

Something you may not have known is...
Greece' Euro 2004 goal-scoring hero Angelos Charisteas is just six goals short of becoming his nation's all time leading-scorer. The burly Nuremberg striker shot to fame after heading the only goal of the game against Portugal in the 2004 final, and should he get himself on the scoresheet in a few tournament warm-up games, he could be on course to re-write his country's football history on the biggest stage of them all.

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