plato-ny

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=564555.html Excerpts from the above link: "I've been impressed defensively with the set-ups of them all. All have played with a flat back four, Greece are the only team that have been able to adapt; they played one game in a 3-5-2, and in the semi-final they switched from their normal 4-3-3 to 4-4-2..." "Sotiris Ninis has been excellent for Greece..." Suspensions for the match http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=564534.html http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=564624.html http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/f.../report=pr.html Bring it home, Niko. Rehhagel will be at the match

U19 are looking like the 300 Spartans Betting Odds To Win: Spain U19 1.85 Greece U19 2.25 Remember the 300 Spartans overcame the odds: "Come And Take Them"

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=563973.html http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=564366.html

Greek commentary: http://www.goal4replay.net/GoalWatch.asp?ID=2344&Ln=En Previous Youth Finals History: Spain-Greece 1-0 u21 1998 France-Greece 3-0 u21 1988 USSR Greece 4-0 u17 1985

Germany-Greece 1-0 (Ben-Hatira - 25') Germany-Greece 1-1 (Ninis - 40') Germany-Greece 1-2 (Mitroglou - 58') Germany-Greece 2-2 (Penalty: Ben-Hatira - 65') Germany-Greece 2-3 (Lambropoulos - 90') This link has better quality: http://www.sport.gr/football/hellas08/0707...24/greger3.asp#

Spain beat France in penalties. Greece meets Spain on Friday. Greece played with 10 players when Greece was winning 2-1 and without its starting goalie. Spain will play without its #2 and #9 player against Greece. Greece showed lots of heart and spirit. Avoiding defeat to host, beating Portugal, tying Spain, beating a Germany team that was like the Czechs of Euro 2004, an Iberian team in the final. Shades of Euro 2004, indeed. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/f.../report=rw.html http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/f.../report=rp.html

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=563566.html The last paragraph of the link: EURO omen Greece's defensive strength has inevitably prompted comparisons with the way the senior team won UEFA EURO 2004™ and their goalkeeper is hopeful the omens are pointing towards another memorable triumph. "We rely on our defence a lot; we try to keep a clean sheet first and with our good midfield and attack we then look to get something at the other end," he explained. "There's definitely some similarities with EURO 2004™, especially from our first match against Portugal which we won 1-0. I took that to be a sign and I hope we can continue in the same way, all the way to the final." Hmmm...

Greece will play against Germany and Spain will play against France. All 4 teams automatically qualified for the FIFA U-19 WC next year. Mitroglou missed a penalty at the 58' and the game ended 0-0. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/f.../report=rp.html SPAIN 0-0 GREECE Juan Santisteban, Spain coach We struggled to get going in the first half, although Greece did not allow us to play the way we know we can. Greece did not attack too much and we knew we would win the group with a point so it was a bit strange we were the ones who had to push forward to get the win. They were happy to drop back a lot and made it hard for us to play. They didn't show much in attack; they didn't really try to score or get men forward. This type of match can be dangerous because you're invited to attack but at the same time you don't want to concede yourself. Nikolaos Nioplias, Greece coach It's very important to be in the semi-finals but we won't have any chance if we start that game with the same mentality we showed here, although the second half was a big improvement. Once we learned Portugal were winning 2-0, both teams dropped off and tried to protect the result. In my experience I understand that even if you don't really want to play for a draw, your mentality is to do that because in this case we knew it was enough to qualify. We always want to win games but both sets of players knew beforehand one point would be enough so it was natural they settled for that in the end.

Greece lost starting goalkeeper for rest of tournament http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=562636.html http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=563010.html http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=563042.html Mitroglou's goal against Austria http://youtube.com/watch?v=maVmODLx-Ps

AUSTRIA 1-1 GREECE Hermann Stadler, Austria coach Both sides fought hard. I was really happy with our spirit but for the first 25 minutes we were terrible, too slow and launched too many high balls. We didn't want to play like this because we knew the Greece defence are very strong in the air. We had a good chance to score at the end of the first half and we would have deserved an equaliser then but as it was we went in a goal down. Our two changes at half-time improved us a lot and we prevented Greece from creating any good chances in the second half. We didn't have many either but with a bit more luck we could have got another goal and perhaps won the game. The atmosphere in the stadium was sensational. I've been here for other games but it was never as good as it was today. Nikolaos Nioplias, Greece coach Austria were the better team in a physical sense but we started very well and could have killed off the match if we would have gone 2-0 ahead. We played very well for 45 minutes, and had two great chances at the end of the first half, but the game changed in the second half. Austria knew they would be out if they lost and their coach did a good job. They altered their approach and pressed forward to create more chances but although they had lots of the ball, they didn't create many openings. I'm very happy with the result, it's a good result for us and qualification for the semi-finals is in our own hands. That's all you can ask.

Not necessarily. We could lose and still advance because of the goal difference between us and Austria should Austrai win. They would have to pound Portugal in the next matchSpain 4 3-1 Greece 4 2-1 Portugal 1 1-2

GREECE 1-0 PORTUGAL Nikolaos Nioplias, Greece coach It was a fair result; Portugal were very dangerous from crosses, especially in the first half and we lost our way a bit after the goal but that's normal. We wanted to protect the result and it's natural you become more nervous then while some players picked up yellow cards so they had to be more careful and were a bit afraid. It's good to start with a win, it gives the team confidence; they knew they were a good team and now they have more evidence of that. We played well today but we'll have to do so again on Wednesday if we want another win. Edgar Borges, Portugal coach My players are heroes to play in such warm weather. The match was very even, we both had chances and Greece played as we expected - they're a very strong team. Our first-half strategy was to calm the match and to play harder in the second half, make the ball do the work. However, we had to try everything to win the match after falling behind; Greece had more luck than us in the end but the fairest result would have been a draw. Small details made the difference today; Greece are a good team but they had more luck in the final third of the pitch because they scored a goal and we didn't even though the teams had the same amount of chances. Their goalkeeper made two great saves and we have to underline that. (The Portugal coach said Greece was lucky. How can that be if Greece had more shots, more shots on target, and a higher ball posession? Maybe he is one of the sore losers in that picture with the anti-Greece banner) Rehhagel will be at the Wednesday match with Austria... http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=561680.html http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=561976.html

Poor Poor Portugal. These fans must be steaming mad right now. It says afterward: "Defensive football. Go Home" Looks like Portugal was playing defensive

Papaloukas of CSKA Moscow signed a 3 year deal for 3 millions euros per year. That makes his contract the highest based on a combination of money and length of contract...

Mitroglou has 5 goals in the tournament. Poor Poor Portugal. Greece beat them again... 16/07/07 Grp A Greece 1 - 0 Portugal 16/07/07 Grp B Germany 3 - 2 Russia 16/07/07 Grp B France 5 - 2 Serbia 16/07/07 Grp A Austria 0 - 2 Spain Group A Pld Pts Spain 1 3 Greece 1 3 Portugal 1 0 Austria 1 0 Group B Pld Pts France 1 3 Germany 1 3 Russia 1 0 Serbia 1 0 http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/f...0898/index.html

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=556611.html Top scorers of U-19 so far: Mitroglou is second. 5 Juan M Mata (ESP) 4 Kostas Mitroglou (GRE) 4 Bjarni Thor Vidarsson (ISL) Greece u/19s beat Austrian top flight team Paasching 2-1.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/under19/n...sid=560080.html

plato-ny, all the games were played in Greece, and specificaly in Litohoro. Also I just heard a report on the radio that the players of Italy, Sweden, and Croatia stayed in the same hotel in Litohoro and had stomach problems due to food poisoning. Greek players that stayed in a diffrent hotel did not have this problem. If thats true, then why were all the games played in Greece??? I guess I dont know much about the "U" competitions...

Greece U-19 team in first place in its division and is heading to the Quarterfinals in Austria. Greece won in Italy 2-0, tied in Croatia 2-2 (a game where Croatia tied at the 89th minute), and defeated Sweden at home 4-0 today. Qualifying teams Greece Portugal Spain France Russia Romania Serbia Austria Tournament resumes in July

Congrats to Gekas for being the number one goal scorer in Germany. He'll be with Leverkusen next season.

He's heading to Coventry: Click

Gekas has 20 goals in Germany and comfortably in first place. He is close to second place in goal scorers of Europe: http://www.eusm.eu/item/goldenshoe.htm

Gekas scored a goal. Second goal in a 2-1 win against Schalke: http://youtube.com/watch?v=G8tjIYrCUPc Player Team Goal Penalty T. Gekas VfL Bochum 19 0 A. Frei Borussia 14 2 K. Kuranyi Schalke 04 14 0 S. Radu Cottbus 14 0

Leading Goal Scorers in Germany: Player Team Goal Penalty T. Gekas VfL Bochum 17 0 R. Makaay Bayern 13 0 K. Kuranyi Schalke 04 13 0 M. Gomez VfB Stuttgart 13 0 S. Radu Cottbus 13 0 M. Klose Werder 12 0 A. Frei Borussia 12 2 Diego Werder 11 1 M. Pantelic Hertha BSC 11 1 N. Takahara Eintracht 10 0 V. Munteanu Cottbus 10 3 C. Giménez Hertha BSC 10 0 M. Zidan Mainz 10 2 A. Voronin Bayer Leverkusen 9 0 J. Cacau VfB Stuttgart 8 0 M. Hanke VfL Wolfsburg 8 1 A. Hunt Werder 8 0 I. Saenko FC Nürnberg 8 0 Y. Amanatidis Eintracht 7 2