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Poland - Greece


Irlandos

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Our NT's first Euro 2012 game is in the National Stadium of Warsaw, on 8 June 2012 7:00pm GR (5:00pm BST, 12:00pm EDT) against hosts Poland.

Oddsmakers make Poland evens favourites to win the game. Greece are listed as 10/3.

Can our lads pull this one off?

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blind fanatic: of course we can....we gonna win the whole thing again !!!!!!

not so blind fanatic......sure we will win no problem.

realistic fan: this is a TOUGH GAME....we are being thrown into the lions den...first game, in poland, etc. etc. etc....if our guys go in with the ladi-dah attitude, we are gonna get beat.....

I never know with this team. Same old story..you never know what team is gonna show up...u think we south korea was better than us? of course not, but when we get complacent and just sit back and let the other team dictate the pace and flow of the game, we are doomed..........we MUST - MUST NOT sit back and absorb early Polish offensive pressure because we will then fall into the same malaise....we have to use their adrenaline agaisnt them by countering quickly and catch them forward to put them back on their heels....we need to go on the offensive immediately....dictate the pace, dictate the tempo....get teh crowd out of the game, and let poland know they are in there with a world class squad.....that the only way they can win...

just on mans opinion.....

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This is my little secret recipe for a nice tasting dish (something that's easy to swallow this summer).

Fortounis :tup: on the left, Fetfa :tup: on the right and Katsouranis sitting on the bench :tdown: .

Other ingredients: Mitroglou over Gekas on the top (even though either should do).

Essential ingredients: Kyriakos Papadopoulos (our team's rock solid guy in the back).

Chef's notes: Personally, I prefer a taste without Karagounis, but in other people's kitchens it could be a basic element.

Cook time: 90 minutes

Health benefits: Thwarts heart attacks

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http://www.tsn.ca/euro2012/feature/?id=67845

Not that TSN Canada is the best at picking winners and losers, but I'm pasting a link to their picks.

Basically they are predicting a Germany-Holland final and that

Greece doesn't make it out of the group stage.

The loser of the Poland - Greece game is basically out of the tournament. Greece has to play to win game one and not just get a draw.

I see Poland taking control of the game for the first 20 - 30 minutes and Greece needs to weather the storm. If they do that then the tide can turn in their favour.

Poland is good...........but their not great.

My "stick my neck out prediction" is Greece 2 - Poland 1.

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i saw the predictions....cant blame them...we are inconsistent...even with recent qualifications no respect coming our way....it will be like that - any "big" wins will always be considered upsets....

agree...first game is key and as i stated, if we try and "weather the storm" we gonna lose....we need to come out with more energy and go on the offensive - put them back on their heels.....just look at south korea/sweden as examples of us playing back....with otto that was a good strategy but we not as good defensively now. santos has chosen more offensive minded guys (ex. tsolis out some 19 year old kid in) , so there is no point to sit back and weather anything....

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The guys at TSN and all English brodcast always have us beaten before the game begins. Respect will never come from cold hearted people like those broadcasters at those networks. We get more respect from Turkish reporters than from anyone of those "Mangacakes" . It doesn't mater what sports Greece plays in ,it will always be negative. When it comes to politics ,they blame us , when it comes to Finances they blame us. We give them light to the world and they still find a way to turn it to someting else. Anyways I don't want to get into this any further, I hope the boys in blue can put their minds to it and make us proud !!

Zito H ELLADA!!! :tup:

:gr:

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http://www.tsn.ca/euro2012/feature/?id=67845

Not that TSN Canada is the best at picking winners and losers, but I'm pasting a link to their picks.

Basically they are predicting a Germany-Holland final and that

Greece doesn't make it out of the group stage.

The loser of the Poland - Greece game is basically out of the tournament. Greece has to play to win game one and not just get a draw.

I see Poland taking control of the game for the first 20 - 30 minutes and Greece needs to weather the storm. If they do that then the tide can turn in their favour.

Poland is good...........but their not great.

My "stick my neck out prediction" is Greece 2 - Poland 1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...d&v=831ByDjftag

thought this was funny and shows just how unreliable some of the analysis can be. I too think we might struggle because rumours are that Santos will pick a 4-3-3 with Chalkias in goal, Torosidis and Holebas at full back. Avraam and Sokratis at centre back. Karagounis, Katsouranis and Maniatis in the middle. Ninis and Samaras out wide and Gekas as the lone centre forward. It's an old line up with players still being played out of position (Samaras as a left forward again!). It also excludes K.Pap (which is ridiculous) and there's no room for Mitroglou or Fetfa. Nonetheless the point is don't pay too much attention to the analysis online. Most pundits know nothing about football but simply repeat what they've heard.

I was watching the England-Belgium friendly last week and in the build up Sky Sports News had former Tottenham player, and England international, Alan Mullery on as a pundit. He was saying that Belgium were an excellent team. Why? Because they have players that play in the Premiership? He was going on about how great Fellaini is. He's hugely overrated but he knows him because he plays for Everton so rates him by default.

The best bit was when he said "Mignolet is a very good goalkeeper, he plays for Newcastle" (Mignolet actually plays for Sunderland) and then he realised this and said "err... not Newcastle, he plays for.. err... he's a very good goalkeeper". He tried to move on quickly from the issue. Now I'm not suggesting he should know who every player that plays for Belgium, but it does make one wonder: Why would he rate Mignolet when he clearly doesn't even know who he plays for? It's simply because he knows he plays in England, so he must be better than a Chiotis or Sifakis, right? That sort of logic is what leads them to undermine Greek football.

Furthermore, the Germans tend to respect Greek football because our club teams always destroy Bundesliga sides and Greek players have done fairly well in Germany. Whereas Greek teams have terrible records against English opposition and only Giannakopoulos really did well throughout his career in England. In English speaking countries like the US, Canada, Australia, etc, the prevailing mentality in the sports media is in line with the English mentality and that's why we see a reflection of that in their analysis of Greek football. One main reason for this is that many British players/managers go to the MLS, ESPN employs many British pundits, the Premier League is the most watched league in the world, etc. So to change their minds we have to help ourselves. In Greece, our performance at the 2010 world cup was considered a relative success because recorded our first ever victory at any world cup! :LOL: If I was manager i'd be going nuts at the performance against S.Korea which cost us qualification. This is the sort of thing that must change. Let's go to the semis of Euro 2012 and see whether they'd continue to undermine us. If so, at the world cup let's make the last 8 at least, etc. But Greece have had one good tournament in our history and we always get destroyed by English teams, so of course this condescending mentality will prevail.

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euro, waxing poetic as always....good read....

i have a few english friends that tend to espouse the same mentality....all i ever answer them with is "how many euros have you won?".........it ALWAYS shuts them up....lol lol lol lol lol

do u agree that we have to come out fast and NOT NOT sit back and try absorb their best shot? i cant see this as a good strategy at all.....i think we can catch them overly aggressive and pop quick one

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@ mangas its always nice to hear a compliment come from you because you clearly know your stuff. Personally I'd play on the counter for the first 15-20 mins. Keep it solid and hit them on the break. However to do that effectively we need a team that's set up to counter and with our slow and lethargic centre midfield we aren't really equipped for that. Nonethless their right hand side is very dangerous with Piszczek and Błaszczykowski ("Kuba"). They both play for the German champions Dortmund and will be a threat. Lewandowski is their star man though, he also plays for Dortmund and is their striker. He scored against Olympiakos in this years Champions League. How confident are you by the way? If we win the opening game I'm sure we'll qualify. If we draw I'd give us 50% chance, but if we lose I can't see us winning the last two to qualify. It's vital we get off to a good start.

@ everyone, as many of you might know my job entails watching football matches, writing analytical reports, scouting strengths and weaknesses of teams, collating stats, etc. So some might want to check out the comprehensive guide to each group that I wrote:

Group A (Greece, Poland, Russia, Czech Rep)

http://www.phantis.com/blogs/midfield-maes...2-preview-group

Group B (Germany, Holland, Portugal, Denmark)

http://www.phantis.com/blogs/midfield-maes...preview-group-b

Group C (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Rep of Ireland)

http://www.phantis.com/blogs/midfield-maes...preview-group-c

Group D (France, England, Ukraine, Sweden)

http://www.phantis.com/blogs/midfield-maes...preview-group-d

PLEASE NOTE: These are only rough guides that are not based on the statistical work that I do so PLEASE DO NOT rely on these predictions for a bet or anything like that. It's just a bit of fun. If I was betting I would not necessarily be betting on these predictions

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euro, if could remember everything you forgot, i would know 10x more than i know now..thanks for the kind word....

honestly, it depends on how things shake out...i can't really judge this new squad because their friendlies have been lethargic and probably at half speed...i dont think we are as solid at the back as we were...thats why i think letting the opposition come forward too deep is a mistake...i prefer to push offensively to a. keep their mids honest and b. they wont expect us to attach right away....trying to absorb their best shot by dropping back and absorbing with NO intention to counter right away is a recipe for disaster.....

as far as confidence: look i thing the polish game is going to be the toughest game for all the reasons i mentioned earlier...i would be surprised if we won that game...tie maybe...if we are playing for something in games two and three i think we can win them...but - i just dont know what team is going to show up, although i have my suspicions...

so if u asking me for a prediction i say that we eeeeeeeeeeeeek by in second and move on to the next round....but i am not confident about that prediction but would not be surprised if we did not lose a game either....again, just cant get a good read on this newer team and their new players....i dont know enough about the new guys and have not seen them play in any serious games together.....

i was at teh ecuador game with my family and in the first half they played a good tight game.....second half newbies came on they kind of fell apart....i know one thing: the papa boys both MUST be in there....and tsiolis being out is a mistake. thats why i say if you gonna go offensive, then go offensive, dont take the offensive mids and then sit back and absorb 20 minutues of polish pressure....

but if this were easy, we would all be millionnaires betting sports....with this greek team nothing really surprises me...if we play even our A minus game we can win all three....we have some talent....

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agree - first goal will be H U G E

tactically speaking - can santos say come out with an offensive scheme that forces Poland to somewhat abandon their "amped up" mindset....?

everyone knows how we play...its ingrained in greek soccer mentality, still....sit back, absorb and counter...lack of confidence in the positive game...they dont know how to play it - yet - and win with it....so Poland (who tend to be sloppy and make some gaffes) is vulnerable early i think...

assumptions:

1. poland gonna be high on testostrone...

2. poland coming out aggressively and positive knowing greece's tendency to sit back

3. greece sitting back to weather the storm

4. greece NOT looking to exploit Poland early "over enthusiasm"

if these assumptions are correct, then its gonna be along afternoon....

again, i may have it all wrong..dont know...but very excited to see the game...actually taking my kids out of school early, going to greektwon to watch it with all the lunatic fanatics....

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We're going to beat Poland tomorrow. But they just have to take this tournament one step at a time, since I think the level of play is going to be better than the last several major tournaments. Santos has to play the right guys at the right time. I think he can do it but I personally wouldn't start Kats in this game.

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clove, maybe we win but i disagree about kats..

why do u think that? he has experience, he's been in big games, he has the cleverness you need in these types of games, still has skills, etc....we NEED those attributes tomorrow in the worst way...we are being thrown into the lions den - we need poise, stability, smarts, experience, someone to calm down and stabilize the younger gus that have NO experience in big games........i normally agree with alot of your posts, but i have to - respectfully - disagree...alot....

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mangas how we should approach the game is a tough one and much depends on them in my opinion. If they come out all guns blazing we should play on the counter and not over commit. Break at a high tempo and try and expose their left back position. If they try and enter the game conservately we should be prepared to press them frenetically, win the ball early and try and impose ourselves. We should react to whatever it is they are doing. Chances are we will be in a better position to counter attack. The problem with that is that the personnel might not be suited to it if we play the line up Santos is being tipped to play.

The rumours are (from sportdog, uefa's dedicated greek correspondent, etc) is that we will play a 4-3-3. Chalkias apparently has 70% chance to start which is petrifying because I honestly believe he is the worst keeper that will feature at this tournament. The back 4 will be Torosidis, Avraam, Sokratis and Holebas. midfiled will be Karagounis, Maniatis, Katsouranis. Up front Ninis, Gekas, Samaras.

This worries me for a number of reasons. Firstly there is no pace in that team, the midfield and wide forwards are particularly slow. Ninis is a better technical player than Salpi but much slower and isn't as willing a runner so hitting them on the counter will be harder. On the left Samaras offers very little defensively so Holebas could be exposed against both Pisczek and Kuba, which could be our down fall. In midfield by playing both Karagounis and Katsouranis we will have experience, as you rightly point out, but we will also lack pace. Katsouranis is also very lazy. That's something we can't afford in the modern game. You cannot have 2 slow midfielder that are lethargic in midfield. Karagounis is great with the ball at his feet as we all know, so is Katsouranis, but my concern is when we don't have the ball.

I feel that the biggest mistake most people make when analysing football is that they only focus on players with the ball at their feet. As silly as this may sound the most important aspect of the game occurs without the ball. Positioning, movement and pressing all occur off the ball and they are aspects which directly affect a variety of facets, such as, maintaining your shape, creating angles/options to receive a pass from a teammate, winning the ball back, tempo, etc. What worries me against the Poles will be how we cope without the ball. It doesn't matter how much talent Katsouranis has, if he isn't playing box-to-box to win tackles and receive passes in dangerous areas, then what good is it? So I would only start with 1 of Karagounis or Katsouranis in this game. On the left I would also not play Samaras. If it was a 4-3-3 I'd prefer to play either Fortunis on the left to help Holebas at left back. Again, if we're playing a 4-3-3, I'd have picked K.Papadopoulos in centre mid with Maniatis and Ninis.

Let's wait and see how it unfolds. I'm confident that I'll be able to guess how it will be after the first 10 mins. If we're solid and pressing well and playing at a high tempo we can upset their party. If we start like we did against S.Korea in the World Cup, where we were playing at walking pace we're going to get killed.

Let's wait and see. 2 worrying stats though: we've played in Poland 8 times in our history and lost all 8. Many of those games mean nothing now but this is more worrying: we've met Poland twice in the last 3 years. We lost 2-0 in Poland in 2009, and drew 0-0 at home with them in March 2011.

In 2009, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Papastathopoulos, Samaras and Gekas all played and we really struggled with their tempo.

In 2011, it was a bit of slow uneventful game which featured Chalkias, Avraam, Karagounis, Fetfatzidis, Mitroglou, Samaras, Ninis, Katsouranis, Torosidis, Salpingidis.

So many players that will either play for sure, or could feature at some point, have already been tested against them. We haven't exactly fared too well, not managing to score. I'm really nervous about this game. I can see them winning, but I wouldn't be surprised with a draw either. I certainly be shocked if we win though. Fingers crossed I'm wrong

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Chalkias!? The backup goalkeeper at PAOK is the Greek national goalkeeper? Santos doesn't want this job much longer, does he?

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Hello all! Just a quick note to say I hope we all enjoy watching Greece at this year's European Championship. I love hopping on this forum and reading all your posts during these major championships.

Tonight's game is funny for me since I am half Polish and half Greek, but will be cheering on the boys in blue.

Have fun all! Regards from Euphoria.

:gr:

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Tonight's game is funny for me since I am half Polish and half Greek, but will be cheering on the boys in blue.

It will be funny for me as well as my next-door-neighbours are Polish.

Should we win tonight, I think I'll plant a Greek flag on his car to see his reaction :D

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I'd have picked K.Papadopoulos in centre mid with Maniatis and Ninis.

I'd have picked him at centre back. He is better than both Avraam and Papaetc.

In any case, the point is: he should have been picked, he should be starting.

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The rumours are (from sportdog, uefa's dedicated greek correspondent, etc) is that we will play a 4-3-3. Chalkias apparently has 70% chance to start which is petrifying because I honestly believe he is the worst keeper that will feature at this tournament. The back 4 will be Torosidis, Avraam, Sokratis and Holebas. midfiled will be Karagounis, Maniatis, Katsouranis. Up front Ninis, Gekas, Samaras.

regardless of tactics if halkias is selected then we'll lose, and what does k paps have to do to get a start??

i feel deflated reading that halkias will start, its knocked out all my enthusiasm for the game. hopefully santos see's sense and goes with sifakis.

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mangas how we should approach the game is a tough one and much depends on them in my opinion. If they come out all guns blazing we should play on the counter and not over commit. -----yes, agreed.

Break at a high tempo and try and expose their left back position. If they try and enter the game conservately we should be prepared to press them frenetically, win the ball early and try and impose ourselves. ----yes, imposing ourselves is something we never do. never....we always counter and let the other tram impose their will on us]

We should react to whatever it is they are doing. Chances are we will be in a better position to counter attack. The problem with that is that the personnel might not be suited to it if we play the line up Santos is being tipped to play. agreed

The rumours are (from sportdog, uefa's dedicated greek correspondent, etc) is that we will play a 4-3-3. Chalkias apparently has 70% chance to start which is petrifying because I honestly believe he is the worst keeper that will feature at this tournament. trust your judgment on that

The back 4 will be Torosidis, Avraam, Sokratis and Holebas. wtf has holebas done to earn a spot so quickly?

midfiled will be Karagounis, Maniatis, Katsouranis. Up front Ninis, Gekas, Samaras.

This worries me for a number of reasons. Firstly there is no pace in that team, the midfield and wide forwards are particularly slow. Ninis is a better technical player than Salpi but much slower and isn't as willing a runner so hitting them on the counter will be harder yep

On the left Samaras offers very little defensively so Holebas could be exposed against both Pisczek and Kuba, which could be our down fall. [ thinking the same only due tohis inexperience and lack of positioning smarts

In midfield by playing both Karagounis and Katsouranis we will have experience, as you rightly point out, but we will also lack pace. Katsouranis is also very lazy. That's something we can't afford in the modern game. You cannot have 2 slow midfielder that are lethargic in midfield. Karagounis is great with the ball at his feet as we all know, so is Katsouranis, but my concern is when we don't have the ball. yes, but here is my thinking on that. you touched on it earlier. the problem is the wide forwards. we need pace AND a crazy work rate to pressue their defense and pull their mids back. This should compliment the street smarts of kats & kara. I think kats is lazy but alot i beleive has to do with the fact that he does not play box to box so he kind of disappears. Midfield traditionally does not require the fastests guys, (bekenbauer, etc) but the smartest guy, they guys that can see the game before it develops. And as mentioned the key to soccer is attacking open spaces and OFF the ball tactics...thats why its even more important that the wide guys and even maniatis commit forward - often, quickly and hard - and let kats and kara feed them or build an attack.. but who could those guys be? dont know. maybe fetfa?

I feel that the biggest mistake most people make when analysing football is that they only focus on players with the ball at their feet. As silly as this may sound the most important aspect of the game occurs without the ball. yep 100%

Positioning, movement and pressing all occur off the ball and they are aspects which directly affect a variety of facets, such as, maintaining your shape, creating angles/options to receive a pass from a teammate, winning the ball back, tempo, etc. well said

What worries me against the Poles will be how we cope without the ball. It doesn't matter how much talent Katsouranis has, if he isn't playing box-to-box to win tackles and receive passes in dangerous areas, then what good is it? So I would only start with 1 of Karagounis or Katsouranis in this game. On the left I would also not play Samaras. If it was a 4-3-3 I'd prefer to play either Fortunis on the left to help Holebas at left back. Again, if we're playing a 4-3-3, I'd have picked K.Papadopoulos in centre mid with Maniatis and Ninis. that sounds like a better mix to me also

Let's wait and see how it unfolds. I'm confident that I'll be able to guess how it will be after the first 10 mins. If we're solid and pressing well and playing at a high tempo we can upset their party. If we start like we did against S.Korea in the World Cup, where we were playing at walking pace we're going to get killed. i use south korea as THE example of what wrong with our mentality ALL THE TIME...i think of that game and its sickening

Let's wait and see. 2 worrying stats though: we've played in Poland 8 times in our history and lost all 8. Many of those games mean nothing now but this is more worrying: we've met Poland twice in the last 3 years. We lost 2-0 in Poland in 2009, and drew 0-0 at home with them in March 2011.

In 2009, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Papastathopoulos, Samaras and Gekas all played and we really struggled with their tempo.

In 2011, it was a bit of slow uneventful game which featured Chalkias, Avraam, Karagounis, Fetfatzidis, Mitroglou, Samaras, Ninis, Katsouranis, Torosidis, Salpingidis.

So many players that will either play for sure, or could feature at some point, have already been tested against them. We haven't exactly fared too well, not managing to score. I'm really nervous about this game. I can see them winning, but I wouldn't be surprised with a draw either. I certainly be shocked if we win though. Fingers crossed I'm wrong------- actually euro, nothing would surprise me. We are a deeper squad, so on paper we should win this game. But i have learned over the years reading the posts here and watching more attentively that the MIX and chemistry of players is really what dictates outcomes. In that regard i think santos misses the boat. I dont see him as a very good tactician. I dont think he evaluates talent and then creates the right mix based on 1. the game he wants them to play 2. strengths and weaknesses of each player individually or collectively.

His comments in pre game are very telling: "Otto has his philosophy and I have mine" what does that tell you? well based on what ive seen i think he believes greece should not just rely on counter, but also build attacks and samba their way down the field to create chances.....

and, the best part of all this is the we win 1-0 on the own goal and all this philosophical babble means nothing...jajajajajaaj......thats what make it fun i guess.

to wrap it up i stand by my assessment - this is a tough game and even tougher circumstance to be thrown into....history shows we paly our best when our backs are against the wall....and i favor experience here to stabalize things and so long as we have a solid game plan and some pace on the sides to pressure them....i do have faith that poland will do something stupid....and THAT is where we can exploit them....they are a fast squad, but they will over commit, we just have to be ready to pounce on that and not sit back.....

Another side note - I loved what papadopoulos said "i dont care how many pollacks in the stands, we are here to do our jobs ...and we respect all our opponents but fear no one"....

Also, from a romanticism point of view....given greeces international political, economic issues and the criticisms levied upon them, couldn't you see they boyz finding a little extra motivation to shut the world up for a few weeks and give everyone back home something to feel good about? It would be a great story for the back page....too much to ask? we'll never know what lurks inside the players phyche but as Winston CHurchill said " greeks dont fight like warriors, warriors fight like greeks".....maybe they can reach down and find some of that....

good luck boyz !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Greece 2 Poland 1 - if we play our B plus / A minus game....dont need to be perfect here....just solid and smart.

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