Nickname: Ethniki Galanoleyki
Manager: Otto Rehhagel
Previous Cup appearances: One
Best finish: First round (1994)
Key players:
Kostas Katsouranis
Theofanis Gekas
Sotiris Ninis
No team in international football has quite such a topsy-turvy record as Greece. Having failed to qualify for major tournament 28 times in 32 attempts, they then caused one of the biggest shocks in football history by winning Euro 2004.
That surprise triumph was masterminded by coach Otto Rehhagel, who is now approaching a decade in charge of the team. The wily veteran even turned down an offer to take over as boss of his native Germany six years ago to remain with Greece.
Rehhagel’s defensive tactics have won few admirers among football purists but he always points out that “a coach must adapt his tactics to the characteristics of the available players”.
It is certainly true that Greece have not been over-burdened with creative talent during Rehhagel’s tenure – although his pragmatic outlook could be put to the test by the recent emergence of exciting Panathinaikos teenager Sotiris Ninis, who has already been dubbed ‘the Greek Kaka’.
Rehhagel has been forced to rebuild the side in recent years, following the retirement of many of the key players from the class of 2004.
The defence, which contains Liverpool’s Sotirios Kyrgiakos, has been bolstered by the emergence of 21-year-old Sokratis Papastathopolous, who plays for Genoa in Italy’s Serie A.
Rehhagel has generally preferred to pack his midfield with ball-winners and holding players, including Kostas Katsouranis and Alexandros Tziolis – although skipper Giorgos Karagounis does offer some invention, as well as being a dead ball specialist.
Up front, the Greeks are still able to call on Angelos Charisteas, who scored their winner in the final of Euro 2004, while Bayer Leverkusen’s Theofanis Gekas scored 10 goals in qualification for this World Cup, including four a single game against Latvia.
Celtic’s Giorgios Samaras provides another attacking option, while Panathinaikos striker Dimitris Salpigidis scored the all-important goal in the World Cup qualification play-off win over Ukraine.
That 1-0 aggregate triumph came after the Greeks finished second behind Switzerland in a seemingly straightforward qualifying group that included both Luxembourg and Moldova.
Having qualified for a World Cup finals for only the second time in their history, Greece will be optimistic of improving on their only previous World Cup appearance back in 1994. On that occasion, they lost all three of their group games, failing to score and conceding 10 goals.
It’s difficult to image a side coached by Rehhagel surrendering quite so meekly, but getting past the first round would still represent an achievement.
