May
20
Greece’s German soccer coach Otto Rehhagel tested several young players in his team’s friendly against Cyprus. The Greek team which is heading to the European Championship next month as the defending champion had little difficulty defeated their neighbors by a 2-0 score. Rehhagel took advantage of the early game to test some players who will become the building blocks for future national teams. The biggest and most pleasant surprise for him and all Greek was the excellent performance of the teenager Ninis who made his debut with the national team and scored the opening goal 5 minutes into the game.
Ninis played his first professional soccer game 2 years ago at the age of 16 for Athens club Panathinaikos. The youngster quickly drew everyone’s attention with his playing skills even though he was clearly lacking experience. This past season, he did not get the chance to play as much mostly because of a nagging injury that his coach at Panathinaikos did not want him to risk making worse. After all, he is still young and allowing his body to heal is a better choice not an option given the demands of professional soccer. And after Ninis’ performance yesterday, it looks like it payed off for him.
Now Ninis has a chance of actually earning a spot in Greece’s Euro 2008 squad. Greece has another friendly coming up against Hungary in Budapest on May 24th. Rehhagel plans to use this last game to select his squad for the European championship. In 2004, Greece was the outsider that surprised many teams early in the competition. By the time everyone figured out their tricks, the Greeks had already advanced far enough in the tournament to become real contenders (and eventually win the trophy.) This time around, every team will take them seriously from the get go. And yet, Greece has a much better squad this time around with players seasoned in International play with starting positions in some of the most competitive championships in Europe including England’s Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga. Let’s see if they have what it takes to repeat climbing to the top of mount Olympus once more.