Until 2001, Greece had just two appearances in the finals of a major tournament. The first was in the European Champions of 1980 and the second in the 1994 World Cup. And then the unexpected happened… Otto Rehhagel took over as the team’s coach, first completely transforming its style, attitude and mentality and then leading it to the most sensational achievement in football’s history. The Euro 2004 triumph. In 2008, he added a third Euro appearance under Greece’s belt and now the team faces a second World Cup challenge after a disastrous tournament sixteen years ago. Back then Greece exited the tournament with two 4-0 defeats and a less harsh 2-0 setback.

Strengths
Greece have been accused as being one of the most boring and anti-football teams ever but their biggest strength lies in its solid defence. With two centre-backs and a libero, Otto Rehhagel revived in 2004 the old-fashioned but always effective catenaccio style. He was proved right…

Star Men
Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos)
Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Liverpool)
Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos)