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Group C


dark_horse

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With one year remaining till UEFA EURO 2008 finals, our national team sits atop in Group C with 18 points, 5 points ahead of Bosnia, Turkey, and Norway. Greece has had there ups and downs in there qualifying campigan, we won 6 out of 7 matches. We should be happy to where we are, but I'm a bit concern about our next 3 qualifyers which will be awfully tough. We must realize that Otto Rehaggel cannot afford to make any more mistakes in these critical matches, he nearly costed us the game with Moldova. So everybody, do you believe Greece can pull through? I pray and hope for the very best.

:gr: :gr: :gr: :gr:

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I definitely think we can win the group but a change in tactics may be in order. The fact is, although we seem to be getting some decent offense out of the 4-3-3, the opposition (weak as it has been these past 2 games) has had quality chances against us. If we were playing against a good team, we'd get massacred.

This is why I think the 4-3-3 should only be used against weak opposition when playing in Greece. For our two away matches (Norway and Turkey), I think we should go back to a 4-4-2; just to be on the safe side. We may not generate much offense, but a draw in both those matches and then wins throughout the rest of the games should be enough to secure us first place.

Although many things could change from now until September, some key points to keep in mind until then:

- Patsa, Torosidis, and Chalkias should be starting

- Charisteas should be benched

- Gekas should be starting

- Goumas is a better option to replace an injured Dellas than Anatolakis

- Samaras should get more playing time next to Gekas

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I think a plain and simple answer to your question is: No!

The way we are playing, we cannot expect to beat Norway and Turkey. We need to change our ways. For starters, no team - not even Brazil - could qualify from our group with George Clooneyidis in goal :tdown:

Btw, against stonger teams I would like to see a 4-4-1-1. Lyberopoulos could play behind Gekas but, obviously, not the entire game.

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Greece has to beat Norway and Bosnia and, under the assumption that Turkey will win their next 3 matches against the bottom 3 teams, would be 2 points ahead of Turkey going into the next match in Turkey. If Greece avoids defeat there, then the next 2 matches would be at home against Malta and on the road in Hungary and "expected wins" there would give Greece first place.

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Although many things could change from now until September, some key points to keep in mind until then:

- Patsa, Torosidis, and Chalkias should be starting

- Charisteas should be benched

- Gekas should be starting

- Goumas is a better option to replace an injured Dellas than Anatolakis

- Samaras should get more playing time next to Gekas

chalkias is no better than clooney (both rubbish)

charisteas had a good game v moldova and worked really hard uefa.com thought he was man of the match.

tavlaridis should partner kyrgiakos

although patsa is a good player he needs more matches due to all his injuries i'd opt for giannakopoulos slightly ahead of him

as for winning the group we'll only do that with a new keeper, however finishing second is just as good, qualification is all that matters

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Although many things could change from now until September, some key points to keep in mind until then:

- Patsa, Torosidis, and Chalkias should be starting

- Charisteas should be benched

- Gekas should be starting

- Goumas is a better option to replace an injured Dellas than Anatolakis

- Samaras should get more playing time next to Gekas

chalkias is no better than clooney (both rubbish)

charisteas had a good game v moldova and worked really hard uefa.com thought he was man of the match.

tavlaridis should partner kyrgiakos

although patsa is a good player he needs more matches due to all his injuries i'd opt for giannakopoulos slightly ahead of him

as for winning the group we'll only do that with a new keeper, however finishing second is just as good, qualification is all that matters

Although Chalkias isn't that good, he's definitely a better option than Nikopolidis right now. He had a good season with Aris and until I see him do the same vlakies as Antonaki in goal for the NT, I say give Chalkias the reins (btw, I think Chalkias would have probably stopped that goal against Moldova). Personally, I'd drop Antonaki from the squad right now (or "persuade" him to retire) and call up Eleftheropoulos for a friendly to see what he can do.

Besides the goal (his first open play goal in how long?), Charisteas was useless the whole game. He always kept losing the ball. Yes he was at the right place and headed it well but other than that; garbage. To give him MOTM is a joke.

I agree that Tavlaridis should get another shot but I was just saying that out of the CBs that Otto selects, Goumas is better than Anatolakis. I'd definitely call up Tavlaridis for a friendly and let him play the whole game to see how he fares.

To me, Patsa has shown that he belongs and as long as he's fit, I'd say give him a spot. I like Stelio and I think he still has it in him but using a "what have you done for me lately" attitude, I'd pick Patsa ahead of him. I'd definitely sub him on around the 65th though if the NT needs a spark.

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Jarvis1981 made a good analysis in the Norway - Greece thread, if Greece could only get 1 point in there next 2 away qualifyers, I think Greece will have a good chance to thru Euro 2008. Norway has the easiest schedule, with Turkey is second easiest. Bosnia has a rough one with 2 matches to be played in Greece and Turkey. The thing is we may not want to assume our contenders will get easy points from minnor sides like Malta or Moldova. We've seen good sides lose in a flash, like Poland lost to Armenia or Serbia lost to Kazahkstan.

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Hello my Greek Friends...

I must say : It is too early to think who can win this Group but no question Greece is now in a very comfortable situation....

But I was very suprised how Bosnia played I thought that they are weak...

I hope Greece wont make the mistake and think that they are a minor one... now Bosnia and Norway have both chances to qualify ... Greece must expect a Norway who will give his 100%... Turkey must play in Norway and in Moldovia ... and I am scared that Turkey will loose points ....

and Bosnia coming to Greece ? If they will win till the Greek match then greek people in the stadium will watch a real fight game for Euro2008 .... and a couple of days later Greece will come to Turkey and ..... you know ...Turkey will also give its 100% because they are playing Greece.... so .... ???

I am sorry to say but in this Group everything is open and nobody has won yet....

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Jarvis1981 made a good analysis in the Norway - Greece thread, if Greece could only get 1 point in there next 2 away qualifyers, I think Greece will have a good chance to thru Euro 2008. Norway has the easiest schedule, with Turkey is second easiest. Bosnia has a rough one with 2 matches to be played in Greece and Turkey. The thing is we may not want to assume our contenders will get easy points from minnor sides like Malta or Moldova. We've seen good sides lose in a flash, like Poland lost to Armenia or Serbia lost to Kazahkstan.

yes ... and Greece nearly lost to Moldova....

you know in soccer everything is possible....

Who can say : Maybe Greece will win in Istanbul with 3:0 or Turkey will make a 5:1 .....

everything is possible also I can see Turkey loosing in Moldova and a winning Bosnia in Greece... :blink:

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In Charisteas' defence he is not a winger - and I think he played as well as could be expected out there

I think the 4-3-3 is done for the Norway and the Bosnia games

so with a 4-4-2 Charisteas may fair a bit better and PLEASE can we stop with talking about how great these guys who nearly score are playing PLEASE they are paid to score and paid to win and Charisteas scored and we won - bravo tou :gr:

Anatolakis like Vyntra are prone to mistakes that can cost us a qualification spot - they can't play - so if Goumas is the only other option then play him

Honestly I hope Kapsis moves to a bigger club and plays because he is the best option aas the man marker in the middle- of the guys that Otto likes to call up

I fear a back line of Kyrgiakos and an out of form Dellas - that spells certain disaster

On the real positive:

--------------Basinas, Kara, Kyrgiakos, Kats and Giorkas make up a solid nucleus

-------------We have some weapons up front - Gekas is looking more comfortable, Amantidis impressed (but he can't score for the life of hime), Samaras is a super-talent, Charisteas scored with his kefala again and Lybe is super clutch and Stelios is a potential super-sub

-----------Toro and Patsa are going to be new permanent contributors

The Hungary game (yes I know they suck) was the best we have played since we made Renaldo weep and I think we can get on a huge roll and repeat - YES I SAID IT - SIKOSE TO PALI :gr: :gr: :gr:

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Great analogy loup, however winning another European Championship is certainly not in the books.

But on the other hand, I love to see Greece give a good showing in EURO 2008.

Norway-Argentina, Romania-Turkey, and Bosnia-Croatia friendlies on August 22. If the non-Group C teams can do some "damage", we can win Group C. LOL. ;)
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i think we will choke against turkey and probably draw with Norway n beat bosnia..

leaving us second by an inch of our lives... Then will go the the play offs where will get smashed and show the world what a great footballing nation we are and a disgrace to the Euro trophy...

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i think we will choke against turkey and probably draw with Norway n beat bosnia..

leaving us second by an inch of our lives... Then will go the the play offs where will get smashed and show the world what a great footballing nation we are and a disgrace to the Euro trophy...

There are no playoffs, but I know what you mean.

We'll scrape into the finals from second place where we''ll hail Otto and the team as great and how we are going to Switz/Aut to defend the title and then we'll get humiliated!

Man, this was never meant to happen.

We won the unwinnable tournament and then it all just went so pathetically bad.

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If Greece plays like they did in the first half against Hungary.

And if Turkey will play with a complete and healthy team (the hardest game will be against Norway /Oslo in November) then both countries will be in Switzerland/Austria.

My opinion for the next matches : - Greece must win against Norway

-Dont worry about Bosnia /Turkey will eliminate Bosnia in Istanbul (or how you say in Konstantiople)

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yes ... and Greece nearly lost to Moldova....

you know in soccer everything is possible....

Who can say : Maybe Greece will win in Istanbul with 3:0 or Turkey will make a 5:1 .....

everything is possible also I can see Turkey loosing in Moldova and a winning Bosnia in Greece... :blink:

We did not nearly lose to Moldova; it was 1-1 at the 80th minute because of our aging goalkeeper, and we made it 2-1 in the final second :tup: So, the game would have been a tie, not a loss.

I do agree with you that anything can happen in football; nevertheless, I think Turkey and Greece shouldn't have a problem qualifying - Norway and Bosnia will end up cancelling each other out when they play.

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Bosnia are the real threat ;) and if turkey think they are going to beat Bosnia at home think again they are now playing with passion they have a chance to qualify for the first time in thier history Bosnia are the real threat in this group they beat Norway away the first team to do so in a very long time and we all saw what happened with turkey.

And you know what i predicted it !!!! read my previous posts

I think our game aginst Norway will be a draw

The game against turkey we will win because we lost to them in athens and will want revenge, and turkey will underestimate us that's when we are very dangerous ;)

The game that i am fearing is aginst bosnia this is going to be the real test !

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Bosnia are the real threat ;) and if turkey think they are going to beat Bosnia at home think again they are now playing with passion they have a chance to qualify for the first time in thier history Bosnia are the real threat in this group they beat Norway away the first team to do so in a very long time and we all saw what happened with turkey.

And you know what i predicted it !!!! read my previous posts

I think our game aginst Norway will be a draw

The game against turkey we will win because we lost to them in athens and will want revenge, and turkey will underestimate us that's when we are very dangerous ;)

The game that i am fearing is aginst bosnia this is going to be the real test !

you know I can see Turkey loosing to Cacao Island but I never will see a turkish team who will how you say ,,underestimate'' a greek squad...

:LOL: :LOL:

Turkey has no more credits.... they have not the position to lean back ...

I cant say if we will win or loose but we will see 4 teams who will :box: for EC...

you can give your predictions to your local bet office maybe they can understand you :P

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Sad but true ...

underestimating is something I don't see them doing against Greece (ever) and defenitely not now when qualification is still in sight. Turkey has a hunger to beat the Greek team and they will do a lot to do so, a hunger that sadly enough I don't always see in our own Ethniki ...

None the less I think our own guys will go in and whoop some ass this time or at least play a draw! :gr: :gr: :gr: :gr: :gr: :gr: :gr:

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Thank God that there are people in this forum like AEK-MTL. I agree on everything he said.

It is obvious that clooneyopoulos hasn't got it any more; we respect him and honor him for what he did in EURO 2004 but we need to move on.

Otto will play his head in the next 3 games and we will see where his confidence really is when he choses the goalie. I hope this will be Chalkias.

On the same note, we need another goalkeeper as Nikopolidis is faced out. Sifakis and the rest are not good enough at the moment and there will be a crisis. Perhaps ELE should be given a chance, as I don't see any other goalkeeper good enough for the bench. Chalkias should be our new starting up goalie.

Also, it is time to change the formation for these 3 games. 4-3-3 is only against the defensive teams. Our NT is best at 4-4-2 with a better opponent in the papers, so if Otto does not remember his...alzheimers, and realizes what we did in the past with 4-4-2, these games could be easier than we think. But the truth is that every game is important, every game is difficult and every result counts!

We will be able to make better prections when the time comes, it is too early now. But is definitely time to see some more new faces. Clooneyopoulos and Anatolakis are just not up to the high standards required at this level.

My only hope is Topalidis: he may be able to suggest something new to the other dying corpse in the Greek bench.

And don't worry. Otto is finished if Gagatsis goes away, and he will!

Have a great summer!

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Hey tuckcell i will put money on turkey having a draw with bosnia at Constandinopoly ;)

turkey will want to beat bosnia, but they also wanted to beat Latvia and look at happened there :LOL:

Trust me it will not be easy game!! ;)

Time will tell hey B)

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Hey tuckcell i will put money on turkey having a draw with bosnia at Constandinopoly ;)

turkey will want to beat bosnia, but they also wanted to beat Latvia and look at happened there :LOL:

Trust me it will not be easy game!! ;)

Time will tell hey B)

So welcome in the club....now you begin to think like a Turk -Congrulations.

:D you know this is alos my feeling that turkish squad will drop points against Moldova and Bosnia.So they must win against the two strong. ;)

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I wish you luck against Bosnia, but i honestly think at the moment they are better team than Norway, Greece, and tukey at the moment that is, but as i said earlier

TIME WILL TELL ALL :D

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I wish you luck against Bosnia, but i honestly think at the moment they are better team than Norway, Greece, and tukey at the moment that is, but as i said earlier

TIME WILL TELL ALL :D

yes it will....

Greece must eliminate Norway now...and Turkey will give the vinkings the rest November....

I dont scare about Bosnia they will also drop points against Norway,Hungary...I also can see a draw in Bosnia against Moldova...Molodova is not a bad team.

The real thread is Norway if Greece looses they will be pushed up extremly So I hope a Greek win will destroy their hopes.

Turkey and Greece will go together to Euro 2008

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