Jun
10
The defending European champions have started the tournament with a bad result. Greece dropped their first game of the 2008 Euro Cup to Sweden by a 2-0 score. Greece coach Otto Rehhagel preferred to start his run with 3 full-backs a sign that he was more interesting in keeping a clean sheet than winning the game by a wide margin. The game had little excitement as both teams failed to create any classic chances in front of the opposing net.
The rhythm slow, Greece had the better chances for most of the first half and early in the second half outshooting their opponents. But a Swedish gift to midfielder Karagounis which gave him the best chance to score with a breakaway to the opposing net was not to happen. Shortly after, a brilliant moment by Europe’s best paid player Ibrahimovic had the champions chasing the game. Ibrahimovic’s briliant wall-pass and shot left little chance for Greece goalkeeper Nikopolidis who came close to making a save but he just couldn’t. 67 minutes into the game and the champions had to chase.
Rehhagel substituted defender Dellas for Amanatides another attacker in hopes of getting the equalizer. But a defensive mistake in the 71st minute (seriously, what the heck happened to the Greek defense in this play?) resulted in a sloppy goal which essentially sealed the deal for Sweden. From that point on, the two teams simply played until the final whistle saving their energy for their next match.
Greece now is in a difficult position having to play Russia (next) and Spain. However, it looks like even if they manage to win both of these games, their chances of going through to the next round are limited. Their best hope is that Spain and Sweden play to a draw in 4 days (again, assuming that Greece wins the next two games) or a possible 3-way tie might have the defending champions out of the quarter finals. One thing is for certain. If Greece want to continue past the group stage in this competition, they better start playing better soccer. It is not 2004 anymore!