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F. Santos at nat’l team helm

A. Papapostolou — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:02:27 +0000

Noted Portuguese coach Fernando Santos on Thursday was tapped as the new manager of the Greek national football team, succeeding Otto Rehhagel.
An announcement issued by the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) underlined that “Fernando Santos will be the new coach of the national team for the next two years, following a unanimous decision by the board. The official presentation of the Portuguese coach to the press will take place … on Friday,” the federation stated.
Santos coached PAOK Thessaloniki last season, leading the team to second place and a Champion’s League qualification round. He previous coached AEK Athens and Panathinaikos Athens, as well as Portugal’s “Big 3″ — Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and Porto FC.
(source: ana-mpa)

Fernando Santos in line to take over Greece reins

A. Papapostolou — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 07:57:35 +0000

GREEKSOCCER.com
Early reports have indicated that Fernando Santos will take over as manager of the Greek National Team by 10 July.
The Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) confirmed earlier in the week that Otto Rehhagel had submitted his resignation as national team boss after Greece crashed out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup following a 2-0 defeat against Argentina.
Santos has long been rumoured to become the next Greece coach following a suspicious exit from his job as manager of PAOK FC following the club’s successful play-off run. Santos kept quiet about future plans, which had initially linked him with coaching positions in Greece and in his native Portugal.

Santos denied reports that he was the next to take up popular coaching positions in the Greek Super League including the then vacant coaching position at Olympiacos FC. Santos suggested that he had become tired with the “day-to-day pressures” that came with a coaching position on the club level.
The Greek press insisted Santos had alternate motives for quitting as PAOK bench-boss at such a crucial time for the club. Santos was linked with the national team job immediately and speculation only heightened with Rehhagel’s resignation earlier in the week.

Still, Santos has denied contact from the EPO, but reports on Thursday suggested that Santos will be offered a two-year contract worth 600, 000 euros per annum.

Santos has been praised by current national team players Giorgos Karagounis and Kostas Katsouranis, two players Santos has coached on the club level.
Greece’s next scheduled match is for August against Serbia in an international friendly with their Balkan rivals, the Ethniki’s final preparation before starting their qualifying campaign for EURO 2012 in a group that includes Croatia, Malta, Israel, Georgia, and Latvia.

Rehhagel bows out

A. Papapostolou — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:56:07 +0000

Greece’s 2-0 defeat to Argentina in the preliminary round of the World Cup on Tuesday evening also marked the end of an era for the country’s national football team.
In a meeting with players on Wednesday, national team coach Otto Rehhagel announced his departure after nine years which, among others, saw Greece twice making it to the UEFA competition and even emerging as the Euro champions in 2004.
The 72-year-old German coach’s announcement followed that of assistant coach Yiannis Topalidis the previous day.
Following Rehhagel’s departure, the likeliest candidate to succeed him as Greece coach at the moment is Portuguese coach Fernando Santos, formerly coach of PAOK Thessaloniki and AEK Athens.
(source: ana-mpa)

2-0: Alexander the Great can’t stop Argentina… (Highlights

A. Papapostolou — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:03:41 +0000

For 77 breathtaking minutes, millions of Greek fans across the globe were enthralled with the spectacular goalkeeping heroics of Alexander the Great.
But even the incredible acrobatics of Alexandros Tzorvas, who turned in one of the finest goalkeeping performances in recent World Cup history, could not stop Diego Maradona’s high-powered Argentines, who consistently came at the underdog Greeks in waves.
Finally, with just 13 minutes remaining in regulation, defender Martin DeMichelis finally broke the scoreless deadlock, breaking hearts from downtown Athens to Toronto’s Danforth Avenue in the process.
DeMichelis collected a rebound from his own header off a corner kick and ripped a shot into the top corner past a helpless Tzorvas, the spark that ignited the powerful Argentines to a 2-0 victory over Greece Tuesday night at Peter Mokaba Stadium.
Martin Palermo added a second Argentine goal in the 89th minute, sending an overjoyed Maradona leaping for joy into the arms of one of his assistant coaches.
The impressive win propels Argentina into the Round of 16, where they will face Mexico in Johannesburg’s Soccer City on June 27.
The loss, meanwhile, ended the tournament for a Greek team that should take consolation in the fact that it recorded its first-ever World Cup victory earlier in South Africa, a 2-1 decision over Nigeria.
It’s still early, but the Argentines easily are the class of South Africa 2010 at this point, winning all three of their games and outscoring the opposition 7-1.

Highlights of Tuesday’s Group B match that saw Argentina beat Greece at Peter Mokaba Stadium.
18 – Argentina carve out their first chance when Sergio Aguero sprints into the box, testing keeper Alexandros Tzorvas, who palms the shot wide
19 – Tzorvas punches a stinging Juan Sebastian Veron shot from 25 metres over the crossbar
30 – YELLOW CARD – Greece’s Kostas Katsouranis is booked for a foul on Aguero
39 – Greece’s offensive moves become a bit bolder with Giorgos Samaras just missing to find Katsouranis with a clever through ball in the box.
45 – Tzorvas makes a double save denying first Maxi Rodriguez from close range and then tipping a curled Lionel Messi shot over the bar.
45+2 HALFTIME – Greece have keeper Tzorvas to thank for a goalless first half, as Argentina pile on the pressure in search for a breakthrough.
46 – SUBSTITUTION – Greece defender Nikos Spyropoulos comes on for playmaker Giorgos Karagounis
48 – Samaras comes agonising close for Greece when he picks up a deep Katsouranis cross to fire a left-footed shot just wide
54 – SUBSTITUTION – Greece’s Sotiris Ninis is hastily brought on for injured Katsouranis
55 – SUBSTITUTION – Greece make their third change with injured Vassilis Torosidis making way for Christos Patsatzoglou
69 – Messi whips a free kick that Tzorvas parries
77 – SUBSTITUTION – Argentina’s Javier Pastore comes on for Sergio Aguero
77 GOAL – ARGENTINA 1 GREECE 0 – Defender Martin Demichelis takes advantage of a goalmouth scramble to fire in from close range.
80 – SUBSTITUTION – Argentina’s Martin Palermo comes on for Diego Milito
86 – Messi is unlucky not to double the Argentine lead when his shot flies off the post
89 – GOAL – ARGENTINA 2 GREECE 0 – Palermo taps in from close range after the Greek keeper Tzorvas punches away a Messi shot
90+2 – FULL TIME – ARGENTINA 2 GREECE 0

Greece to Face Goliath Test in Polokwane

Anastasios Papapostolou — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:10:42 +0000

GREEKSOCCER.com – Tuesday will provide a definitive ninety minutes for the Greek national team as Otto Rehhagel’s men prepare to lock horns with giants Argentina in a pivotal final fixture.

The Peter Mokaba Stadium will be the venue for the most important match for the Greeks since their EURO 2004 triumph in Portugal six years ago. The Greeks are currently in a two-way logjam for second place in Group B and will need to walk away from Tuesday’s match with a result better than that of South Korea, who face Nigeria in Durban as well on Tuesday. The Greeks defeated Nigeria last Thursday in Bloemfontein to boost their chances of progressing after a prior 2-0 loss to South Korea filled the team with plenty of doubt. Still, Greece need a positive showing if they are to progress to the knockout round just a few days after grabbing their first-ever World Cup win and goals through Dimitrios Salpingidis and Vasilis Torosidis. The Pirate Ship will be hoping its voyage on Tuesday night is not its last in South Africa, but Greece know they are in tough against section leaders Argentina. The Albicelestes cruised to a 4-1 defeat of South Korea last Thursday in Johannesburg, and although some regulars will get the night off, Diego Maradona will encourage his side to push on and finish the group schedule on a high. The South Americans have all but clinched a berth in the knockout round and are expected to win the group, if not the game as well.

According to Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero, Maradona will make a few changes to the Argentine line-up with Aguero admitting he has been told he will play against Greece and Diego Milito will too. The coach himself suggested, however, Lionel Messi, the maestro of the two-time winners, will also play despite reports that the FC Barcelona would be rested for the knockout round. Regardless of who features for Argentina, Greece know they will be in tough as there’s a sense of master-class within the Argentina ranks. Greek supporters will be hoping that prestige will force the Greeks to elevate their own game, with a berth in the knockout round lying in the balance. The Greeks appear to be in full-strength as knocks to Vasilis Torosidis and Giorgos Karagounis have healed; however, Avraam Papadopoulos is reportedly still sporting a thigh injury, but he is still expected to play against the Argentines. Rehhagel’s tactics are expected to be rather defensive considering the firepower the Greeks are up against in Polokwane, but the likes of Dimitrios Salpingidis and Giorgos Samaras could made appearances for the Galanoleuki as Greece will need at least a goal against Argentina. Mathematics might become the deciding factor for who moves on and who goes home in Group B as goal differential, as it stands heading into the deciding day, could mean Greece will take the first flight back to Athens. Nevertheless, as this World Cup has exhibited in the first eleven days of action in South Africa, anything can happen in the sport and Greece are still very much in the tournament with the chance of progressing past the first round.

Messi Confirmed for Greek Clash

A. Papapostolou — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:23:41 +0000

Argentina coach Diego Maradona has quashed suggestions that he may rest current World Player of the Year Leo Messi by saying that it would be “a sin” to leave him out of Argentina’s final Group B game against Greece.
Maradona experimented with a radically different line-up in training and it had been thought that he may keep Messi back for the knockout stages after his gruelling season with Barcelona.
However, he confirmed Messi would appear for the game, saying: “We of course wanted to give Lionel Messi a break (in training). He will play.”
Despite having turned in notable performances in Argentina’s opening games against Nigeria and South Korea.
Messi, has so far failed to fire in front of goal. He now has a further opportunity to catch teammate Gonzalo Higuain who has raced ahead in the race for the Golden Boot following his hat-trick against South Korea.

Sacred goal restores the golden age for Greece

A. Papapostolou — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:20:02 +0000

Greeks are wary of facing Argentina on “unlucky Tuesday” but until then are rejoicing in their first victory.
Ever since the fall of Constantinople on 29 May 1453, Greeks have been suspicious of Tuesdays. Bad things happen on the third day of the week like the sacking of a city that can bring down an entire empire.
Next week, nearly 600 years after Byzantium’s demise, Greece must take on Argentina in their final game to qualify for the next round of the World Cup. Already the superstitious are pointing out that the game is on Tuesday. For even the most optimistic of fans those who still wax lyrical about Greece’s extraordinary achievement clinching the European Championship in 2004 despite all the odds the omens are foreboding.
Barely minutes after the side’s first World Cup win yesterday, Otto Rehhagel, the no-nonsense German who has coached Greece for the past nine years, appeared to echo the sentiment. “Argentina is a world-class team,” he said. “They will clearly be better than us and we have got to try and see how to cope with them.”
But despite the impending sense of dread, the euphoria ignited here by the team’s historic 2-1 victory over Nigeria in Bloemfontein is unlikely to fade fast. Until Thursday Greece had, after all, never scored a goal in the finals of football’s top competition.
Set against the humiliating 2-0 opening defeat by South Korea and at a time when the Greeks need all the good news they can get after months of being bombarded with reports on the parlous state of the country’s near bankrupt economy the team’s victory in South Africa is being lauded as nothing short of spectacular.
Irrespective of whether they make it out of the group or not, “King” Otto and his players can be certain of this: they will now be assured a heroes’ welcome from the fans when they return to Athens. More than one commentator in breathless explication as their second group match evolved, described the players as “demi-gods who have come to save
our country”.
And today, it was the turn of the print media. “The players of our national team have brought home the message that at especially difficult times there is always hope for pleasant upsets,” opined the mass-selling Ta Nea.
The newspaper described the victory as a “resurrection” for a team that under Rehhagel’s increasingly controversial stewardship gave lacklustre performances in warm-up friendly matches ahead of the competition.
In football split seconds count. The moment when Vasilis Torosidis settled Thursday’s contest, scoring the team’s crucial second goal in the 71st minute, has already assumed an almost sacred quality that looks likely to infect the nation for years to come. “It is the goal that we will all remember, the one moment that I think it is safe to say has made every single person in Greece, happy, happy, happy,” said Tonia Petropoulou, watching the match with friends on a giant screen
outside an Athens cafe.
“We haven’t felt such joy since the 2004 European Championship, which seems like the golden age when we lived in a very different country.”
But dig below the surface and there are not a few among the country’s football intelligentsia who see the World Cup as a turning point for the team and Rehhagel. Irrespective of the win over Nigeria, the side’s dismal defeat by South Korea has, say cognoscenti, revealed certain truths that cannot be ignored namely that Rehhagel’s largely defensive
game is no longer a winner.
Then again, maybe the German will defy even the most superstitious of Greeks by pulling off the seemingly impossible when his team meet Diego Maradona’s men on Tuesday.

Greece – Nigeria 2-1: National Greece Gia Sou!!!

A. Papapostolou — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:01:29 +0000

Greece claimed its first World Cup win, rallying to beat 10-man Nigeria 2-1 in a World Cup Group B match.
Vassilis Torosidis poked home a loose ball in the 71st minute after a mistake from Nigeria goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama to make history for Greece, which had lost all four previous World Cup matches.
Nigeria broke the deadlock on 16 minutes through midfielder Kalu Uche, who swung in a free-kick from near the left corner of the penalty area that eluded everyone and crept in past a bemused Alexandros Tzorvas.
But the Super Eagles’ hopes took a major hit when Sani Kaita was sent off on 33 minutes after kicking out at Torosidis, the Nigerian leaving the pitch in tears.
As half-time approached Greece coach Otto Rehhagel threw on forward Georgios Samaras for defensive midfielder Sokratis Papastathopoulos as the Greeks, renowned for their defensive-minded play, seized the initiative.
The pressure paid off when Salpingidis netted Greece’s first ever goal in a World Cup finals after his shot deflected into the net off Nigeria’s Lukman Haruna to make it 1-1 at half-time.
Nigeria took off Peter Odemwingie for Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi at the beginning of the second half, which started in lively fashion with both sides threatening.
With less than 10 minutes gone in the second period the Africa side were forced into another substution when Uwa Echiejile replaced the injured Taye Taiwo.
As the second half wore on the game became stretched and in a dramatic spell Theofanis Gekas was denied by Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama before Nigeria raced upfield with Yakubu Ayegbeni forcing Tzorvas into a smart save and Obasi missing a clear follow-up chance.
But minutes after pulling off a wonderful save Enyeama spilt a powerful shot by Alexandros Tziolis and Torosidis smashed in the rebound from close range, sealing the win.

Greece: 12-Alexandros Tzorvas; 11-Loukas Vyntra, 16-Sotiris Kyrgiakos, 15-Vassilis Torosidis, 6-Alexandros Tziolis, 8-Avraam Papadopoulos, 19-Socratis Papastathopoulos, 10-Giorgos Karagounis, 21-Kostas Katsouranis; 14-Dimitris Salpigidis, 17-Fanis Gekas

Nigeria: 1-Vincent Enyeama; 17-Chidi Odiah, 6-Danny Shittu, 2-Joseph Yobo, 3-Taye Taiwo, 12-Kalu Uche, 20-Dickson Etuhu, 15-Haruna Lukman, 14-Sani Kaita, 8-Yakubu Aiyegbeni, 11-Peter Odemwingie

Did the World Cup’s favorites, live up to the expectations?

Michael Andricopoulos — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 07:43:14 +0000

France, Argentina, England, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Brazil and Spain, have been the world’s most powerful teams in the recent years. Most of them, however, failed to impress us in this first round of group stage games. Except Germany with a rout of Australia (4-0) and possibly (many will argue) Argentina’s win over Nigeria (1-0), none of the rest where interested in providing us some “Joga Bonito”.

Brazil struggled over North Korea (2-1) when the Netherlands had an easier afternoon against the Danish (2-0). On the other hand, 2006 World Champions, Italy were unable to gather 3 points against Paraguay (1-1), England drew USA after a horrendous mistake of their keeper Green(1-1) and France found it impossible to score despite Anelka’s and Henry’s efforts against Uruguay (0-0). Last but not least, World Cup favorites and European Champions, Spain, upset millions whom had bet their win over Switzerland, after losing 0-1.

It is a known fact that the opening games are not meant to provide spectacular football. A statistic says, that 8 out of 10 teams that have lost the first game in the World Cup group stage, tend to go home earlier than the rest. Having that in mind, footballers walk in the field aiming to protect their home area. Usually that turns into a rather passive and boring game.

Hopefully, the groups’ favorites will prove me wrong and hammer the nets in the following round. It’s about time that our sacrifice of spending 6 hours in front of a screen per day, pays off with some “joga bonito”.

Greece ready to overcome Nigerian «obstacle»

A. Papapostolou — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 06:44:32 +0000

Greece face a must-win clash with Nigeria on Thusday after losing 2-0 to South Korea in their opening World Cup game.
But Panathinaikos striker Dimitris Salpingidis insisted on Monday that the Greek side could bounce back from that loss and overcome the “obstacle” that is Nigeria, which lost their Group B opener 1-0 to Argentina.
“Everything’s okay, we’re continuing our efforts,” Salpingidis said.
“We were very annoyed to have lost to South Korea but we’ve shown in the past that we’re capable of overcoming obstacles.
“We have quality, and we’re not out of the tournament yet. There’s still two games to play.
“We still have dreams and we’ll do our best to make them continue.”
He added: “We didn’t play well as a team – Korea were not a better team than us, we just made mistakes.
“We’ll try not to make mistakes in the future, remain focused and try to do our best against Nigeria.”
The striker warned that despite going down to Argentina, the African side were a threat, especially when going forward.
“Like us, Nigeria lost their opening match. They’re a very good team, very physical, strong and fast, a quality outfit,” he said.
“Nigeria work well as a team and created chances against Argentina. They’re very good when they play the ball in attack.
“But we have also shown in recent years that in big matches we have a compact defence with a quick counter-attack, that’s the way we play.”
Salpingidis downplayed criticism levelled at the side by Greek media, saying: “Statistics are for the media. On the pitch you don’t think about past results, but in every match you try to win.
“We’re playing in the greatest tournament in the world. We’re trying to be happy and enjoy the competition and give the fans something to cheer about.”
Aris goalkeeper Michael Sifakis said the Greek defence, which creaked badly at times against a speedy South Korea side, had to be a collective responsibility.
“Defence is not just about the goalkeeper and defenders, it’s all the players,” he said. “We want harmony amongst ourselves and to work together as a team, to try to keep the Nigerian strikers at bay.
“It’s not a disaster that we lost to South Korea. We have to remember how we got here, we’ve had some days to rest up and now we must be realistic about our goals.
“Before our play-offs against Ukraine we had the same criticism but we proved we could do it.”