South Africa World Cup 2010 Group B: Greece

GROUP B

Argentina South Korea Nigeria Greece

Greece

Road to South Africa

Greece finished just one point behind Switzerland in their World Cup qualifying group, meaning they had to come through a tricky play-off with the Ukraine to get to South Africa.

Home and away defeats to the Swiss and a draw away with lowly Moldova in qualifying won't exactly fill the Greek team with confidence. Neither will keeping just three clean sheets in a group with the likes of Latvia, Luxembourg and Moldova.

Bundesliga-based Theofanis Gekas was the leading European goal scorer in World Cup qualifying and he will lead the line for his country in South Africa.

Fixtures

Greece Copyright © Soccerphile	Greece Copyright © Soccerphile

Greece v South Korea 12 June; Cape Town
Greece v Nigeria 17 June; Bloemfontein
Greece v Argentina 22 June; Polokwane

Analysis

A number of players from Greece's triumphant Euro 2004 squad remain in contention for World Cup places, including captain Giorgos Karagounis, Giorkas Seitaridis and Angelos Charisteas.

The Greek squad lacks any real stars and key striker, Celtic's Georgios Samaras, can be described as hit-and-miss at international level.

The emergence of youngsters such as Sotiris Ninis, Grigoris Makos and Vasilis Pliatsikas means that the future is bright for Greek football and these kind of players could bring sparkle to a team of whom little is expected at this tournament.

Key player: Theofanis Gekas

As was the case in qualifying, Greece will rely heavily on the goalscoring exploits of Theofanis ‘Fanis' Gekas, if they are to make an impression at this World Cup.

The striker, who recently moved to Hertha Berlin on loan, has had an unsettled time of things at club level over the past few seasons, falling out of favour at current club Bayer Leverkusen following a move in 2007.

With 20 goals in 45 games for Greece at the time of writing though, Gekas' ability to hit the back of the net is not in question. His country will hope his instability at club level will not affect his form in South Africa.

One to watch: Sotiris Ninis

19-year-old Ninis is dubbed the ‘Greek Kaka' and his dribbling ability and style of play certainly bears resemblance to the Brazilian.

Ninis made his debut for Panathinaikos aged just 16 – the second youngest player ever to represent the club. He's gone on to star for ‘The Greens' and recently signed a contract extension with a 10m Euro buy out clause.

Manchester United and AC Milan are amongst clubs set to be scouting Ninis at the World Cup.

Coach: Otto Rehhagel

The German Otto Rehhagel has been Greece manager since 2001, making him one of the longest serving international coaches in Europe.

Rehhagel has managed Bremen, Bayern, Borrusia Dortmund and Kaiserslautern among his eight teams and 26 years as a coach in the Bundesliga.

Record

1994 First Round

FIFA Ranking

Predictions & Latest Odds

Early flight home for Otto and the boys.
World Cup Betting

How they qualified

Second in European qualifying group 2 behind Switzerland, then won a play off 1-0 against the Ukraine.

On the sidelines

227 of Greece's roughly 1400 islands are inhabited.
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Soccerphile says

While their squad doesn't look the strongest, Greece's group opponents, Nigeria and South Korea (along with Argentina) at least gives them hope of progressing to the knock out stages of the World Cup.

The emergence of Sotiris Ninis, dubbed one of the best young players currently in the world, gives one good reason for neutrals to check this Greece side out.

The Squad

Goalkeepers Michalis Sifakis (Aris Salonika), Alexandros Tzorvas (Panathinaikos), Kostas Chalkias (PAOK Salonika).
Defenders: Giorgos Seitaridis (Panathinaikos), Loukas Vintra (Panathinaikos), Evangelos Moras (Bologna), Socrates Papastathopoulos (Genoa), Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Liverpool), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Vasilis Torosidis (Olympiakos), Nikos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos), Stelios Malezas (PAOK Salonika).
Midfielders: Kostas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos), Alexandros Tziolis (Siena), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Christos Patsatzoglou (Omonia), Sakis Prittas (Aris Salonika).
Forwards: Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg), Dimitris Salpigidis (Panathinaikos), Pantelis Kapetanos (Steaua Bucharest), Theofanis Gekas (Hertha Berlin), Giorgos Samaras (Celtic).

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