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Latvia - Greece


Irlandos

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I hope Greece rises to the occasion when plays better teams if they go through. This is the easiest group.

The good news is that Greece still controls their future.

But, I don't know about that future. Kara, Katsou, Salpi, Lybe, and many others don't have much time left. Even Santos has said that he'll call it quits after the Euro.

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euro, the only seemingly certain thing you can say about a greek national team is they more often than not play to the level of their competition.......

Hi mate, great to have you back!

That's a very good observation. Problem is we aren't good enough to do that. Last season Manchester Utd had numerous unconvincing wins. That is to say that games they were expected to win comfortably, they ended up making difficult. Two that immediately spring to mind are West Ham in the league and Marseille at home in the CL. In both games Man Utd were very lucky to escape with the win. But moments of individual brilliance (as well as refereeing help in the West Ham case :rolleyes: ) helped them get through. We don't have that type of individual brillaince that can change the game in an instant. We're a "team" and so we have to work hard and perform well collectively in every game.

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good to be back.........

we cant flip the switch on regular basis...they into a game with georgia and tie, yet when we needed the win against ukraine we played our "A" game and won. (i know, its a different team, but the same jersey)

Ironically, and we've have discussed this alot, I have read several articles over the past several months that actually refer to Greece as an elite european team. One article in particular made reference to the "crumbling Greek empire" metaphorically likening their 2004 run into today's team. So, teams get amped up to play us, and combined with better, more even com petition across all countires and this "new" perception of the greek team you get increased expectations and fired up opponents. Therefore, if we dont bring our "A" game or close to it, every time we play we are vulnerable to almost any team.

It's always been my contention that Greece is the best 2nd level team around. And, at their most competitive on the bottom or near the bottom of the 1st level teams - Germany, Italy, Englands, etc of the world. On any given day we can beat any team more than once, so it should not be a surprise like it may have been 10 or 15 years ago. But, consistency in results against teams we should beat is a much better barometer of the quality of team vs. an occassional big win against an England or Germany. CONSISTNECY in bringing an "A" game has always been our problem.....and that is an attitude thing - not a technical thing.

Latvia was a prime example.

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That's where we disagree. I think we're currently a mid-level 2nd rate team with the prospect of either dropping to a 3rd rate team (as we did against Latvia, or whenever Greece play England) but also the prospect of raising our level to one of the best 2nd rate teams around. If we talking about our average level though I'd rate all of the following above us: Croatia, Russia, Sweden, Mexico, S.Korea, Japan, Uruguay, and possibly Turkey above us. I say this because while we tend to kill 3rd rate teams and make ourselves competitive against 1st rate teams with a solid defence, against teams around our level we always seem to flop.

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Allow me to once more fully agree with mangas on the lack of consistency. But I'd also like to add to the mix unbridled desire to always win, plus athletic fitness through 100% workout dedication is what the NT always lacked and will lack because we Greeks have some pretty screwed up ideas on professional performance, or lack thereof.....you know, ela more entaksi kai ti egine? Toy xronoy tha, kai tha, kai tha..... It's a cultural thing and that's why it's so difficult to change it, no matter the aspect of life being covered. I was reading a news paper yesterday where the Germans are suggesting shipping to Greece their own public servants to help straighten out the economy, and I hate to admit it but they'd do one heck of a lot better than our tsigaraki kai kafedaki manges (no pun intended manga).

Euro, you my friend know your football well!

And now for the cheery part of my post, the wife and I will be in Thessaloniki on October 1 for 20 days so I guess I'll be present for the game with Croatia, I just hope it'll be a result I can celebrate with my family and friends over tsipouro and mezedakia afterward....come to think of it I can celebrate in that manner no matter what the result :tup:

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gcp, no offense taken ....jajajaa - its one of the many things that makes "manges" special.....jajajaja

i've really learned to appreciate the finer points and subtleties of this game through everyone's contributions....and sprinkled with my own sometimes balances always opinionated views, makes for a nice companion with the morning cofee or late night inebriating beverage...

fact is a 1-0 game can be ten times more of a lopsided victory than a 4-0 game that was tight until the last 2 minutes.....but whats always within the control of every player is effort, will to win, hustle, unselfishness etc etc etc....those attributes contribute more to consistency (wins) than the ability to dribble past five guys and score....its great if you have that special player, and it covers up for alot of mistakes when someone can bail you out like that...but our teams margin for error is slim - and our A games needs to be on the pitch everytime...As euro said - latvia game was a disgrace and, ironically, i was thinking that after Nini got hurt it was entirely possible that teh team would come out flat because nobody wanted to get hurt either....i did not write it, but it definately crossed my mind....

that croatia game is gonna be HUGE....the place gonna be rockin'.....

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we Greeks have some pretty screwed up ideas on professional performance, or lack thereof.....you know, ela more entaksi kai ti egine? Toy xronoy tha, kai tha, kai tha.....

i hate to admit this but this is 100% true. You know what got to me the most? Some sections of the media in Greece were actually portraying the draw as a good result!

Sportday triumphantly declared "Sto Xeri Mas H Protia"

Exedra Sports: "Ekane thn anatroph"

while the commentators on the Greek channel broadcasting the match said, after the final whistle, "bravo pou palepsan gia tin niki. einai sta xeria mas h prokrisi". Are they actually being serious?? There's no difference between a defeat and a draw in this case. We still need to beat Croatia! But it's that sort of loser mentality that costs us in so many walks of life.

And now for the cheery part of my post, the wife and I will be in Thessaloniki on October 1 for 20 days so I guess I'll be present for the game with Croatia, I just hope it'll be a result I can celebrate with my family and friends over tsipouro and mezedakia afterward....come to think of it I can celebrate in that manner no matter what the result :tup:

Sounds great! Have fun mate :tup:

@mangas21, re "the place will be rocking", don't hold you breath. We have the worst international football fans in the world. We'll be lucky if the place is 40% full.

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if they cant get more than 40% for a big game like that, well that's indicative of the entire mentality in general i guess....dont downplay economics, etc etc, although i would think the "lets forget about all our woes per euro" is pretty high to allow a few hours of entertainment...all i know is even if i end up watching it on my computer while at work, THAT place will be rockin' !!!!!!'

look, we all know the shortcomings of our team/nation/netality etc etc etc etc....plain as day for all to see but, whats the option? root for turkey? right? we all bleed blue and white, so we take our analytical hats off for a few hours and get behind the squad - then put them back on an rip them to shreds after, lol....or, parise them to high heaven if its so deserved.....seems like we can be objective about it when the discussion turns...

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Mate we barely filled 60% when Greece played the Ukraine for the World Cup play off. Patriotism is in short supply in Greece at the moment. Karaiskaki will be rocking for the game against Marseille, Toumba will be the same for Tottenham's visit on Thursday, but i guarantee you the stadium will be far from full for the Croatia game. It's such a shame really

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It's like I'm talking to the mirror boys, and I love you for it!!

Yes I just can't grasp the fact that Greek fans would rather support a PAO or Paok or an Oly, or whatever the team of choice vs. our NT! Can't understand this mentality and yet it's pervasive in Greece. There's no doubt that here in the US people are much more patriotic and much more supportive of their country's efforts, no matter the sport.

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gc, the folks over there are in a homogeneous environment so they are never far away far their "greekness and dont have to actively puruse their greek identity...those of us outside that particular fishbowl embrace our greekness much more intensely because its what gives us our identity in a melting pot or other non greek environment....and if u factor in the disdain the population has with its political leaders u can understand somewhat the disconnect......i seem to remember 20 years ago when i would attend satelite broadcasts with my dad, the stadiums for national teams games were full all the time. And, of course in true greek fashion, if the team is in a big game or tournament the bandwagon jumpers will "jump" on......but definately, from a game to game perspective the level of interest is disappointing, suggesting strongly a priority shift away from national interests to secular/my team interests. This is even more intriguing given that half the teams nowadays are foreign. jajajaajaj...

anyway, as a famous philosopher once said "it is what it is".......

J-E-T-S JETS ! JETS ! JETS !

PS very dangerous let down game this week after that dallas game

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In a lot of countries I think the fans get crazier for their club teams since thats the team you live with week in and week out...but of course the fans in Greece need to wake the f uck up and support the NT; showing pride for your country doesn't mean you support some crooked politicians; how you feel about your country and heritage is your business.

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