GREECE
WORLD RANKING: 14
TEAM CAPTAIN: Giorgios Karagounis
BEST EURO RESULT: Winners (2004)
THE LOWDOWN
The 2004 European champions come into this year's tournament ranked 14th in the world with a nice blend of youth and experience in their squad. The aging faces of Giorgios Karagounis, Theofanis Gekas and Kostas Katsouranis are blended with youngsters Soitiris Ninis and Kostas Fortounis. Brazilian coach Fernando Santos will look to the experienced faces for mental strength and composure and moments of offensive brilliance from the young phenom Ninis.
Despite going unbeaten in qualifying, the Galanolefki have never been known as an offensive juggernaut and games against the likes of Russia and the Czech who possess similar scoring weapons and equivalent defensive acumen, could make this group a nailbiter to the end. Expect Santos to bring more a offensive approach to the Greek national team than his predecessor Otto Rehagel did. But, this may turn out to be the wrong style for the Greeks as they cannot expect to throw hay makers with the most talented teams in Europe and come out on top.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Sotiris Ninis
Despite going unbeaten in qualifying, the Galanolefki have never been known as an offensive juggernaut and games against the likes of Russia and the Czech who possess similar scoring weapons and equivalent defensive acumen, could make this group a nailbiter to the end. Expect Santos to bring more a offensive approach to the Greek national team than his predecessor Otto Rehagel did. But, this may turn out to be the wrong style for the Greeks as they cannot expect to throw hay makers with the most talented teams in Europe and come out on top.
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| Where will Greece's goals come from? Samaras, possibly? |
The 22 year old Albanian-born winger/midfielder will be at the heart of the Greek attack and will be looked upon for the lion's share of the team's offensive flair. Ninis, who made 2 appearances in Greece's disappointing outing in the 2010 World Cup, will look to end his 2nd international tournament on a much happier note. Regarded as one of Europe's brightest young stars, Ninis will have the perfect opportunity to show the continent why a number of top clubs on the continent were vying for his signature after his contract expired with Panathinaikos last month. Italy's Parma won the race to sign the young midfield magician, who will now be playing in Italy's Serie A come September. Is he worth all the hype? We will find out on Friday.
PREDICTION: 2nd in Group A & a Quarterfinal loss to Germany.
UP NEXT: Poland
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