No dream unattainable: Greece plays to succeed

Greece national football teams has waited until 1980 to reach the first major tournament, the European Championships in Italy, while in 1994 it qualified for its first World Cup, in the United States. Therefore, it was difficult to imagine what was about to come at UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal, especially following the two losses at the very start of their qualifying campaign.

At the start of the tournament, only Latvia was a darker horse than Greece, but the Hellenic team defeated Portuguese hosts in the opening match, reached second round at the expense of Spain and Russia, and then shocked France, Czech Republic, and once again Portugal with three 1:0 wins to create perhaps the greatest surprise in modern history of international football.

Building upon this sensation, Greece qualified for four more major tournaments, twice qualifying for the knockout stages (2012, 2014). Their reputation was also confirmed in the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage qualifiers. Greece stayed undefeated in away matches, equalized against Bosnia and Herzegovina deep into added time, and lost only to group winners Belgium at Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus. Finally, Greece claimed the runner-up spot ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Cyprus and Gibraltar.

The signature beneath the Lisbon triumph was Otto Rehhagel's, and following Santos, Ranieri, Tsanas, and Markarian stints, Greece was once again in German hands. In 2015, Michael Skibbe took the job, continuing to implement Greek ideas on aggressive approach and tireless fight until the final whistle.

"Through the ages, every Greek team looks the same: tough, hard to break down, tackling to the limit. Their style is not pretty, not modern, but it is efficient. Fanatics in defence, doing the best they can in attack, and extremely dangerous in set pieces", summarized former Croatia international Robert Jarni, the new Croatia U-19 head coach. He faced Greece on four occasions, and winning just a single match.

Greece currently sits at No. 47 of FIFA Rankings, but better positions of other play-off participants must not be misleading. In Karnezis, Greece has a reliable goalkeeper, in Manolas, Tzavellas, captain Torosidis, Papastathopoulos, and Stafylidis some quality defenders, in Fortounis, Zeca, Tziolis, and Mantalos skillful and persistent midfielders, while striker Mitroglou waits to punish any mistake in opponent's defence.

Even though the icons such as appearances record holder, unbreakable Karagounis (139) are retired, as well as Zagorakis (120), Katsouranis (116), and Basinas (100), or legendary goalkeeper Nikopolidis, or all-time top goalscorers Anastopoulos (29), Charisteas (25), and Gekas (24), Greece has enough ingredients for an extraordinary successful recipe to achieve its objectives. Therefore, the Vatreni have only one choice, to give their best and achieve the objective first.

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