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Greece - Germany


Irlandos

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First, Santos made many bad choices, from selecting players (especially the golies) to setting up the team.

Then I don't like the trash talk before a game. If you've got game, show it when it counts.

Game starts and I see the Germans combining outside, inside Greece's box as if in practice. Missed a lot. Greek team defending in panic mode. Also indicative of their psychology is that they couldn't exchange the ball more than 2 passes, often making unforced errors.

In all the games so far, Greece played bad first halfs. Kara's goal in the expiring moments of a first half doesn't mean the team played well. Why? It almost cost GR the chance to advance. (By FIFA world cup rules, Russia would have advanced instead--the goal diff counts above head-to-head.)

Anyway, it's good that Greece shows up regularly at big tournaments. It still suffers from having a crappy league.

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watching italy england today and spain game shows clearly how woeful we are as an offense....its really miraculous how we got as far as we did with the offense we have...i dont know if it is tactics, lineup, mental approach, etc.... i just dont know...but watching these games clearly show the level difference....it does not mean we cant beat any of thesee teams on a good day, but more often than not we wont....

i cant imagine that we cant play more like spain, or even italy today who were far more dangerous than england offensively....is it coaching? is it formation? is it effort?

i dont buy the "talent" argument...we CAN pass the ball, stop it and string 5 passes together....so it cant be that...

i think it is just a defense at all cost mentality and not confidence moving down the field by a short passing game....dont think our guys are raised to play that way...

can anyone offer their opinion....what/why cant we even do 10% of that? i cant remember on 1-2 between anyone the whole tournament...yet psain germany italy they do this over and over...u telling me we cant?

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"No Greeks never strive to do better because when they do good like getting to the quarter finals, there will inevitably still be people calling it a failure."

Genome, it is a failure. The only one that can claim they didn't fail is the one that wins! One winner and a bunch of losers. And that where we are today, at the bottom of the heap of the remaining loosers.

Excuses don't make you better they make you complacent and god knows we are that if nothing else as a society. A song comes to mind, "oi gloses mas megales alla ta tsoutsounia mas mikra."

I've said it SOOOOOO many times before, the midfield and control of the ball, to include heart and desire, as mangas screams out, wins games with consistency. And of course my favorite attitude, professionalism. We posses non of the above and it's evident, no matter who dresses it as success. We were undone from the root yesterday, utterly naked and incapable in front of the whole world. I remain ashamed!

Then you had unrealistic expectations.
If striving to do the best one can do is an unrealistic expectation on your part, and you are a true representation of today's Greek, no wonder the country is in the shape it's in! Be happy to be the karpazoispraktoras of the world then, and the laughing boy of the Germans but afford me the distinction to not like it a damn bit, and to differ because your mediocre attitude has a direct effect on my reputation as well.
I just feel sorry for you. Take off the blue and white colored glasses. Manuel Neuer is a better goalkeeper than Michalis Sifakis. The German back line of Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm and Boateng, is better than our back line of Torosidis, Maniatis, Tzavellas, and Papastathopoulos. Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Khedira, Reus? Sounds better than Makos, Katsouranis, Ninis, and Kyriakos Papadopoulos. Klose and Schurrle are still better than Salpi and Samaras, let alone the inclusion of Podolski and Gomez. I have nothing to do with Greece's problems. I'm a 23 year old student who lives in America anyway. I love being Greek, I love being Cypriot, but I am realist. Sure we'd love another miracle like 2004, but for the personnel we have, this was a good tournament. Our boys played with a lot of heart, but upsetting the Germans(and that's would it would be, a massive upset) was a one in a million chance. You are what is called a homer. You think the team you root for is the best in every way. When your team loses, the other team didn't win, your team beat themselves. You need to stop this high and mighty attitude.
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Anyway, it's good that Greece shows up regularly at big tournaments. It still suffers from having a crappy league.

greece suffers more because we do not export enough players, so few of our players go and play abroad. Denmark has a league inferior to greece and a population thats half of greece but is able to beat holland and perform well against germany and portugal and nearly always reaches big tournaments and its simply because all the top danish players play abroad in big leagues. why did players like salpingidis and vyntra elect to remain in greece when foreign clubs came in for them ? why did lyberopoulos wain until he was 31 before going to germany, what possessed fetfatzidis to sign a 5 year deal to sit on the bench at olympiakos, why is torosidis still playing in greece having won every domestic honour there multiple times. Manolas looks set to spurn clubs overseas to go to olympiakos. it should be their goal to leave greece as soon as they get the chance and until that starts happening greece will remain average at best.

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greece suffers more because we do not export enough players, so few of our players go and play abroad. Denmark has a league inferior to greece and a population thats half of greece but is able to beat holland and perform well against germany and portugal and nearly always reaches big tournaments and its simply because all the top danish players play abroad in big leagues. why did players like salpingidis and vyntra elect to remain in greece when foreign clubs came in for them ? why did lyberopoulos wain until he was 31 before going to germany, what possessed fetfatzidis to sign a 5 year deal to sit on the bench at olympiakos, why is torosidis still playing in greece having won every domestic honour there multiple times. Manolas looks set to spurn clubs overseas to go to olympiakos. it should be their goal to leave greece as soon as they get the chance and until that starts happening greece will remain average at best.

Because many of these guys don't travel well. Giorkas was case in point, his move abroad doomed him.

Look at Charisteas--he went from club to club and is now playing for a new promoted team. These guys think that it's better to be a star in Greece than a bench warmer in Germany or Italy.

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i think it has more to do with style of play rather than lack of players abroad...so what if someone goes abroad? case in point....remember Machlas? he LED THE DUCTH LEAGUE IN SCORING.....what good is it when he plays for the national (defensive , park 12 guys behind the ball) team? he wont get fed with opportunities because the rest dont play in a way that can take advantage of his talents...

i agree playing abroad is important...of course, more from apoint of view of confidence and understanding that they are as good as most foreign players......but i believe its 65% at least attributable to the style we play...tight, pack it in and counter...

you MUST put offensive pressure on the other team or else they will sit with two guys back (Gremany) and DARE you to counter...in the meantime they put 15 qualty chances on our net because they send everyone down into our zone without fear of our offense....

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guys let us put things in perspective.The real Greek team didn't show up on Friday and we got two goals off the Germans. Sifakis had a nosebleed and probably wasn't seeing clearly.

We had an excuse to lose to Germany, they have no excuse to give up two goals to a team lacking a natural left back, and our midfield general. Let's wait for four years and these Germans if they win nothing will be considered failures and our golden generation will have blossomed.

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I think it's a combination of not having enough Greek players abroad and a crappy league. It's also the internal culture, from the club to the league, that prevails and poisons everything.

Great teams have consistency over long periods of time.

I've watched many euro games with American friends who love Greece and who understand and follow soccer. I tend to agree with their observations. If they didn't care about the country, they would never go out of their way to watch games of Greek teams or the national squad, because it's not enjoyable soccer. Some heroics here and there, but the prime focus rests on destroying the opponent's game rather than producing its own game.

This can be frustrating to the other team and may occasionally produce results.

Likewise, let me ask you: if you didn't root for one team or had an emotional attachment to one (or the region it represents), would you watch the Greek league games? ...

From my perspective--and I watched tons last season, most of them are very borring with a few exceptions of play and players, but most are mediocre at best. Add to this the refs and the idiots who control the league and you get the picture.

I think Greece should get a new coach. With the economic and political crises that necessitate drastic reforms, maybe the teams will turn a page too. All should invest in their youth academies instead of buying all foreigners, and work long-term.

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I must say that many here have made many good points on how the Greek National team did and I must say that I have mixed feelings about this tournament. I would agree that while making it past the group stage was fantastic I was disappointed in the way the team played against Germany simply because I know that they could have played better.

Having followed this team while qualifying they seemed to always find ways to win or get back into games when they had too.

Coming into Euro 2012 many so called experts disregarded this team and showed no respect for 7 wins and 3 draws while qualifying and maybe that was because the other teams were not considered world class other than maybe Croatia, but I guess a 2-0 win over Croatia did not mean much.

Against Poland; with ten men they tied and almost come away with a win. Against the Czechs this team went down 2-0 and battled back and in my opinion they tied that game. They ultimately went on to defeat Russia and showed tons of character and fought back in each game and yet this team received no respect.

Although I like some of what Santos has done since he has become coach, I ultimately blame him for the Germany game and the first two games. He must do a better job in selecting the best game strategy to put his team in the best possible situation to win and he did not do that. Defending behind the ball is a losing strategy; it allowed Germany to dedicate the entire game, while making it very difficult for Greece to score any goals and yet they came away with 2. Of course they could not play a wide open game against Germany, but they could have played a more strategic game and countered more often and take the play to Germany more than they did. I am not disappointed in the loss, but I am disappointed in the way Santos prepared for this game and the way the team played. The last time I saw the Greek national play this way was against Argentina in WC 2010. When as a team you show this must respect to your opponents you

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I prefer Kara to retire completely because he's been a leader and he won't take being a bench warmer lightly. His influence could be a distraction. Katso could still be a bench warmer and sometimes starter.

Time to move on.

Karagounis retire, I mean I think it was plain for everyone to see what Greece is like without Karagounis. They were flat, lacked creativity, couldn't hold the ball for more than three passes, couldn't win free kicks. With players you have to take the good with the bad. It was insane not to give Fetfa a chance, but to take Karagounis out? That will require rebuilding the squad and throwing away qualification for 2014 to give chances to and experience to youngsters and that's not going to happen.

I think he's a 60 minute player and we need his leadership for two more years.

Just think, he's done two great things:

1. Score the goal that started Euro 2004 for us, let's not kid ourself we would have been knocked out in the first round with 2 points if he didn't score that goal.

2. He scored the goal which had us advance from our group and show that we are not a first week team, we can go past the first round.

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"No Greeks never strive to do better because when they do good like getting to the quarter finals, there will inevitably still be people calling it a failure."

Genome, it is a failure. The only one that can claim they didn't fail is the one that wins! One winner and a bunch of losers. And that where we are today, at the bottom of the heap of the remaining loosers.

Excuses don't make you better they make you complacent and god knows we are that if nothing else as a society. A song comes to mind, "oi gloses mas megales alla ta tsoutsounia mas mikra."

I've said it SOOOOOO many times before, the midfield and control of the ball, to include heart and desire, as mangas screams out, wins games with consistency. And of course my favorite attitude, professionalism. We posses non of the above and it's evident, no matter who dresses it as success. We were undone from the root yesterday, utterly naked and incapable in front of the whole world. I remain ashamed!

Then you had unrealistic expectations.
If striving to do the best one can do is an unrealistic expectation on your part, and you are a true representation of today's Greek, no wonder the country is in the shape it's in! Be happy to be the karpazoispraktoras of the world then, and the laughing boy of the Germans but afford me the distinction to not like it a damn bit, and to differ because your mediocre attitude has a direct effect on my reputation as well.
I just feel sorry for you. Take off the blue and white colored glasses. Manuel Neuer is a better goalkeeper than Michalis Sifakis. The German back line of Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm and Boateng, is better than our back line of Torosidis, Maniatis, Tzavellas, and Papastathopoulos. Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Khedira, Reus? Sounds better than Makos, Katsouranis, Ninis, and Kyriakos Papadopoulos. Klose and Schurrle are still better than Salpi and Samaras, let alone the inclusion of Podolski and Gomez. I have nothing to do with Greece's problems. I'm a 23 year old student who lives in America anyway. I love being Greek, I love being Cypriot, but I am realist. Sure we'd love another miracle like 2004, but for the personnel we have, this was a good tournament. Our boys played with a lot of heart, but upsetting the Germans(and that's would it would be, a massive upset) was a one in a million chance. You are what is called a homer. You think the team you root for is the best in every way. When your team loses, the other team didn't win, your team beat themselves. You need to stop this high and mighty attitude.
omonia, I don't know where to start with a response to your nonsense so I'll just say that once you mature, get a few years under your belt so to speak, you may eventually grasp the gist of my message.
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Exactly right andrew!

I just finished watching the game and that's precisely how you beat Germany! Bravo stoys Italoys, they proved they have ten times the balls we do.

BTW, I told my coworkers that Italy would win and no one would believe me, se they all bought the ESPN/media hype, especially after destroying us the way they did. But it wasn't them per se, it was us that made them look so good. Lesson learned, for the 100th time.....or maybe not.

I say it's Italy's Euro to lose.

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yeah, Italy showed how to beat the Germans. Great game, and actually Italy had more chances to score. The final result, 2-1, doesn't reflect the game in terms of effectiveness. The Gerys scored very late on a PK when the game had been decided.

However, Greece needed a different showing to beat them, because it was the Gerys that had so many classic opportunities to score twice as many against GR.

I wouldn't say the Itlalians are the favorites at the final. It's split and will depend which Spain will show up. It's going to be an exciting one.

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  • 3 weeks later...

"No Greeks never strive to do better because when they do good like getting to the quarter finals, there will inevitably still be people calling it a failure."

Genome, it is a failure. The only one that can claim they didn't fail is the one that wins! One winner and a bunch of losers. And that where we are today, at the bottom of the heap of the remaining loosers.

Excuses don't make you better they make you complacent and god knows we are that if nothing else as a society. A song comes to mind, "oi gloses mas megales alla ta tsoutsounia mas mikra."

I've said it SOOOOOO many times before, the midfield and control of the ball, to include heart and desire, as mangas screams out, wins games with consistency. And of course my favorite attitude, professionalism. We posses non of the above and it's evident, no matter who dresses it as success. We were undone from the root yesterday, utterly naked and incapable in front of the whole world. I remain ashamed!

Then you had unrealistic expectations.
If striving to do the best one can do is an unrealistic expectation on your part, and you are a true representation of today's Greek, no wonder the country is in the shape it's in! Be happy to be the karpazoispraktoras of the world then, and the laughing boy of the Germans but afford me the distinction to not like it a damn bit, and to differ because your mediocre attitude has a direct effect on my reputation as well.
I just feel sorry for you. Take off the blue and white colored glasses. Manuel Neuer is a better goalkeeper than Michalis Sifakis. The German back line of Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm and Boateng, is better than our back line of Torosidis, Maniatis, Tzavellas, and Papastathopoulos. Schweinsteiger, Ozil, Khedira, Reus? Sounds better than Makos, Katsouranis, Ninis, and Kyriakos Papadopoulos. Klose and Schurrle are still better than Salpi and Samaras, let alone the inclusion of Podolski and Gomez. I have nothing to do with Greece's problems. I'm a 23 year old student who lives in America anyway. I love being Greek, I love being Cypriot, but I am realist. Sure we'd love another miracle like 2004, but for the personnel we have, this was a good tournament. Our boys played with a lot of heart, but upsetting the Germans(and that's would it would be, a massive upset) was a one in a million chance. You are what is called a homer. You think the team you root for is the best in every way. When your team loses, the other team didn't win, your team beat themselves. You need to stop this high and mighty attitude.
omonia, I don't know where to start with a response to your nonsense so I'll just say that once you mature, get a few years under your belt so to speak, you may eventually grasp the gist of my message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HoaFWI5S0Q
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