Prospects
One of the most defensive-minded sides in the world, Greece is unlikely to repeat its stunning success from Euro 2004, but has a reasonable chance of making it out of the evenly matched Group B. The country was outscored 10-0 in its lone World Cup appearance in 1994, and it will have two of the same opponents this year - Nigeria and Argentina. This time around, the combination of a sturdy back line and dangerous attacking options - spearheaded by Europe’s top goal scorer in qualification, Theofanis Gekas - means Greece is rightly expected to better that record in South Africa. Under hugely experienced manager Otto Rehhagel, Greece has a good chance of victory over South Korea and Nigeria in its opening two games of the tournament. It’s possible the Greeks could spring a surprise in their final game of the group against an underperforming Argentina side, so the second round is a realistic target. Going any further than that would be an unexpected bonus.
History
Greece not only hopes to improve upon its first and only appearance in the World Cup from 1994, but is looking to score its first goal in this tournament. The team suffered lopsided defeats in all three games 16 years ago - 4-0 to Argentina, 4-0 to Bulgaria and 2-0 to Nigeria. Greece will be looking to recapture the spirit of Euro 2004 in Portugal where it emerged as the shocking winner of the tournament.
| Greece - Qualifying Path |
| Date |
Opp |
Result |
| 3/28/2009 |
@ Israel |
D 1 - 1 |
| 4/1/2009 |
vs. Israel |
W 2 - 1 |
| 9/5/2009 |
@ Switzerland |
L 0 - 2 |
| 9/9/2009 |
@ Moldova |
D 1 - 1 |
| 10/10/2009 |
vs. Latvia |
W 5 - 2 |
| 10/14/2009 |
vs. Luxembourg |
W 2 - 1 |
| 11/14/2009 |
vs. Ukraine |
D 0 - 0 |
| 11/18/2009 |
@ Ukraine |
W 1 - 0 |
| 9/6/2008 |
@ Luxembourg |
W 3 - 0 |
| 9/10/2008 |
@ Latvia |
W 2 - 0 |
| 10/11/2008 |
vs. Moldova |
W 3 - 0 |
| 10/15/2008 |
vs. Switzerland |
L 1 - 2 |
| Record: 7-3-2 |
|
Qualification
Greece qualified for the World Cup for only the second time in its history, but did so the hard way - via the playoffs - after narrowly missing out on automatic qualification. The Euro 2004 champions would have been confident of progress in one of the easier European qualifying groups, but two defeats to group winners Switzerland and a draw with lowly Moldova resulted in a second-place finish. Greece reaped the rewards of FIFA’s decision to seed the World Cup qualifying playoffs, as it drew Ukraine while avoiding possible matchups with France, Portugal or Russia. Missed opportunities in the home leg left Greece needing a win away from home, and it came through with one thanks to a first-half goal by Dimitrios Salpingidis and a typically impressive defensive display.
| Greece - History |
| Year |
Rounds |
MP |
W |
D |
L | GF |
GA |
| 1994 |
Group Stage |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
10 |
|
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