Germany doesn't watch a game where Russia lost.... There has been a university program where 40 students analysed every team possible for the past months. We should know everything there is to know about Greece. And what is there to know? They fight till the end and have a quite good defense. Quite good cause in their first game against Poland it wasn't good. Poland pushed through and through, couldn't score enough though ^^ I personally thought and still think Ireland and Greece are the worst teams in the tournament. Now Greece reaching the next stage is surprising as shit....
noone is saying otherwise.. that greece is one of the worst teams in this Euro.. that was the deal in 2004 though also. i think that Greece is still underestimated on how good their defense are. stats shows that they are one of the best ratio chance/goal squads in modern football. and that obviously they react amazing as underdogs. Germans are favorites dont get me wrong, but it will not be the open game that everyone thinks, if Greece will be ok defensively. attractive football are for friendlies and TV fans.. this is about win.
Oh you're right it won't be pretty. It will be a brutal rusty match. For the quarter finals I can think of something better Like....no Spain can't win! I don't want to think about it. It's too obvious that Spain wins it all.
We are on our way to our first title since 8 years As i have said before greece isn't as bad as it was showed against poland and czezch republic(or actually on the first 20 minutes of that games) To let you understand why Greece was so bad, you should know the situation with Chalkias and why he played. The two good goalkeepers of Greece are Sifakis and Tzorvas. Sifakis was injured for 6 months so he played only 5-6 games and Tzorvas is benched at Palermo since december. So both of them weren't a solid choice for euro. There were 2-3 goalkeepers(karnezis,vellidis) that had good seasons but don't have the experience or the talent of Tzorvas/Sifakis. There is also a great talent(stefanos kapino) but he has only 5-6 excellent appearances so he lacks experiences. Chiotis had a great season at APOEL but i believe he is a goalkeeper with just glimpses(as he had also 10 years ago at champions league level with AEK) so santos didn't call him Chalkias is more experienced than anyone else,but he is crap.He is 38 and he can't fall on the ground for a save,he has problem with his back and even if he is 2.00 metres tall he can't run to clear a cross in his box. But Chalkias plays for Santos's previous club(PAOK) so Santos trusts him. And because the other options were not in a good condition, santos chose him because of his experience. But everyone in Greece couldn't understand that choice(see chalkias' mistake in his last game of the season ) So santos made a terrible choice and i like to say that greece features with only ten players and without a goallie when chalkias was on the pitch... But now that sifakis plays(he is nothing special but yet good enough) for greece and WE HAVE NOT CONCEDED with him, i don't believe this is just a coincidence. Of course my point isn't that we are going to win Germany,but Greece was bad at the start of the tournament because we were self-destructive(also we had some awful referee decisions...) and NOT because we are actually so bad. ps Unfortunately many people(at least Greek fans) will not see the quarter-final as just a football game but will concentrate on political aspects(propably you will see greek fans waving theis € bills ) but i hope this will be just a domestic social media hype and people understand this is just a game and a celebration of football and not a political protest
Amazing that people still think Greece is the (or one of the) weakest teams in the tournament. How many successes do they have to pull out to convince people otherwise? For sure they are a top 8 side in Europe over the past 10 years! As for this tournament, they got shafted by the referees in the first and third matches yet still progressed. The refereeing has been very good in this tournament overall, but not in Greece's games.
That's the funniest thing I've read on Big soccer for a long time! Top 8 side for 10 years in Europe? You are frigging kidding me? They are not even one of the best 10 teams in Europe the last 10 years! They were a top 8 side for one year, in 2004.
Then how come they were a top seed for the WC 2014 qualifying draw which is based on results over several years (but excludes their success in 2004)? Only 6 UEFA sides have qualified for every major tournament in the last 10 years. Greece are in the group of countries that failed only once, but unlike most others in that group they've actually had some success in the final tournament. So that record surely puts them at #7 or #8 in UEFA, depending on whether you put England ahead of them for being more consistent.
People tend to forget that we were one of the teams that qualified undefeated in this tournament... People tend to forget that we were the team that gathered the best amount of points at the euro 2008 qualifying... We are not a great power at football, but it sure that whoever underestimates Greece will inevitably lose. (and if not,then we will have our revenge at basketball )
I don't care about ranking, I care about watching them play! I can easily name 12 better European sides than Greece the past 10 years, Euro 2004 aside. Portugal, Germany England Netherlands, Spain France Croatia, Italy, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Denmark, If Greece were a top 8 side for 10 years, why is everyone always shocked when they win a game in a tournament? Even after Euro 2004, there aren't many european sides who fear playing Greece.
This thread is about the game only. It's not to place to talk about the Greek economy or the ethnicity of the German players.
Because they don't have any recognizable names. But that doesn't mean they don't play well as a team.
England does not even have a good result the last 10 years. Premier league is a great league but the english national team is bad. I don't say that greek football is better than english but you can't say that the english national team is strong just because the media think it is. How can croatia be better than greece when we were on the same group at the qualifiers and we progressed easily against them?? Russia? we sent them home... Netherlands has great players but awful team atm...they will be watching greece playing a quarter final from their sofas. Please, i don't agree that greece is at the best 8 teams for the last 10 years and i don't mind my team being hated but that doesn't mean that some of the arguments against us aren't too crappy.
The Champions League final in 2008 had 10 England Internationals in it. Every Champions Legue final since 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 has had some English players and many English internationals playing in the semi finals. That is why England are expected to do well by the media and fans. But sure like the Dutch good players doesn't mean a good team. Greece are not hated.
I agree. That's why they are rated. Of course having the league with the most money is the main reason they have so many players in CL finals, not because they have the best players. Anyway, this is about Greece and Germany.
Karagounis is a major part how Greece stretch their game upfront. With him out, I don't expect much from greek counter-attacks. If Samaras is able to catch long balls forward...then who knows, a miracle might happen. They have great CBs and a lot of heart. I think they're going to put up a fight and it will take time for the germans to break in.
Greece indeed have a lot of heart, but I don't think they will manage to stop the German team. They are the strongest team in the tournament so far in my opinion.