Betting odds Greece

Manager: Otto Rehhagel
Captain: Giorgos Karagounis
FIFA Ranking: 12
World Cup appearances: 1
Best World Cup: Round 1 – 1994 

Greece Team Profile

The 2004 European Champions will be making just their second appearance in the finals of a World Cup when they travel to South Africa after successfully coming through a two-legged qualifying play-off to get there, beating Ukraine 1-0 on aggregate after a 1-0 win in Donetsk.

The Greeks will be lead in by Otto Rehhagel of Germany, one of the longest serving international managers in modern history after spending nine years at the helm of the Greek national team. Rehhagel is up their with the sporting bests in Greece, with his leadership qualities and motivational skills enabling Greece to perform to some very high standards in recent tournaments, even winning the 2004 European Championships against all odds, while the loyal and passionate Greece fans will wish for another shock win when they make the long distance trip to South Africa in the summer.

Despite Rehhagel’s position as manager looking assured after gaining qualification into South Africa, the pressure will certainly be on the German and his Greek squad to perform after an unsatisfactory display in the 2008 European Championships which seen Greece fail to make it past the group stages. Their group this time around remains competitive but one they could quite easily bypass, so there will be no excuse for failure in South Africa.

Strengths

The Greeks are worldwide renowned for their stubborn, resolute qualities. Otto Rehhagel sets his team up in an organised manner, with every defensive and midfield player knowing their role and often performing their respective duties to perfection. The Greeks really are a well oiled machine when it comes to defending, while their patient attitude when in possession enables them to dictate the tempo of most games and go at a pace that suits them, which is generally walking pace.

Weaknesses

Greece, for all their admirable qualities at the back and in midfield, aren’t the most attractive of teams on the eye, nor do they play the most entertaining of football. They go at their own pace, which is often very steady and sometimes extremely slow, to the point where the play often stops and breaks down. However, what this all boils down to is when Greece do need a goal, in those do or bust situations, they lack the required urgency needed in order to pile necessary pressure on the opposing defence. Moreover, because of their slow build ups, Greece are very predictable and very easy to defend against.

Greece Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: European
Group: 2
Position: 2nd
Win-Draw-Lose: 6-3-1
Goals Scored: 20
Goals Conceded: 10

It took a two-legged play-off with Ukraine to decide Greece’s World Cup fate. In typical Greece fashion, they made both legs scrappy and untidy, but it proved an effective tactic as they prevailed over two-legs thanks to a 1-0 win in the away leg in Donetsk.

World Cup Potential: 1/5

If we’re completely honest, we don’t think Greece will go far and, quite frankly, we don’t want them too either. They are one of the dullest footballing nations to watch and the sooner they leave the competition the better. It’s very, very rare that you come across an entertaining affair when Greece are involved, and in the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet, everyone wants to be treated to exciting games. The Greeks are too slow in their build up and often turn games in a snooze-fest, while world-class talent is at a premium to really make any serious in-roads anyway.

Greece World Cup Betting Odds

Greece to win the World Cup – 350/1 Expekt

Before the World Cup the odds on Argentina were 199/1 

Official Greece World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Tzorvas (Panathinaikos Athens)

Chalkias (PAOK Thessaloniki)

Sifakis (Aris Saloniki)

Defenders

Seitaridis (Panathinaikos Athens)

Vyntra (Panathinaikos Athens)

Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos Athens)

A. Papadopoulos (Olympiakos)

Torosidis (Olympiakos)

Kyrgiakos (Liverpool)

Papastathopoulos (Genoa)

Moras (Bologna)

Malezas (PAOK Thessaloniki)

Midfielders

Karagounis (Panathinaikos Athens)

Katsouranis (Panathinaikos Athens)

Ninis (Panathinaikos Athen)

Prittas (Aris)

Tziolis (Siena)

Patzazoglou (Omonia Nicosia)

Strikers

Charisteas (Nuremberg)

Gekas (Hertha Berlin)

Salpigidis (Panathinaikos Athens)

Samaras (Celtic Glasgow)

Kapetanos (Steaua Bucarest)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 Greece Fixtures – Group B

World Cup 2010 Group B - Table

World Cup Fixtures and Results

Argentina v Greece Betting Odds

Argentina to win: 8/13 at Bet365
Draw: 14/5 at Extrabet
Greece to win: 11/2 at Boylesports

Greece

There does not seem to be a lot of enthusiasm or optimism coming out of the Greece camp ahead of their final Group B match against Argentina. Coach Otto Rehhagel has even stated publicly that his side are unlikely to qualify with going up against the strong South Americans in their final match. That may sound like a brutal thing for a coach to say, but credit has to be given for being realistic. Greece are not expected to take anything away from the match, which will leave them short of reaching the next round. The race for second spot in Group B is quite tight, and for Greece to progress, all they need to do is get a better result than what South Korea do against Nigeria. The thing is, Greece’s final group task is a much tougher one than South Korea’s. Greece played their way into some kind of contention with a 2-1 win over Nigeria in their second group match. That was a landmark result for Greece, as not only was it their first World Cup victory, it all recorded their first ever World Cup goals. The Greeks had gone five games in the world’s premier football tournament without scoring, but they finally managed to break their duck, with Dimitrios Salpingidis having the honour of going down in history as their first ever goal scorer.

The 2-1 victory for Greece, in a match from which they had to come from behind, earned them the three points which gives them a slight chance of progressing. The best they can hope for realistically is a draw, with the Argentineans looked fired up and hungry for success. Greece are not renowned for playing an open match, and that is where the problems will like for them. They are not an adventurous side, simply because they haven’t got the kind of talent which like to charge forward. They pride themselves instead on running a tight ship and keeping their guard up. They will need all of their defensive qualities if they are to scrape anything out of this match. They will be underdogs, but maybe the confidence of breaking their World Cup duck will inject a little more self belief into the players, even if Rehhagel is not exuding confidence himself.

Greece World Cup Betting: Perhaps in a World Cup of upsets so far, the best option for betting on Greece would be to take advantage of anything which has them to get a draw. Maybe the Argentineans will take their foot off the gas and allow Greece to get something out of the match? You would think that Argentina will be keen to keep momentum going along though, and not fall into that trap. A draw may be good enough for Greece, depending on what happens in the other match. Anything which offers decent odds on them getting a draw, and perhaps now we will see star striker Theo Gekas find the back of the net, so he’s worth looking at for an anytime scorer.

Greece World Cup 2010 Stats
Played: P2, W1, D0, L1
GF/GA: 2/3
Cards: Y4, R0
Most Shots: Georgios Karagounis, 2
Top Scorer: Dimitrios Salpingidis, Vasileios Torosidis, 1
Shots/On Goal: 33/13
Fouls Committed: 25
Total Passes: 962
Pass Completion: 72%

Argentina

Argentina are setting the tournament alight. They crushed the challenge of South Korea 4-1, with Gonzalo Higuain netting himself a hat trick along the way. While Lionel Messi has yet to get on to the score sheet himself, he has been instrumental in driving the South American’s forward. Any questions over the unpredictability and inexperience of coach Maradona, seems to have quickly disappeared, as Argentina are now outright favourites in World Cup betting to win the World Cup. It has been a bold statement by Argentina in their first couple of matches, and has sent warning signals that Argentina really are the to make an impact. The doubts about backing them came from the troubles they had during qualification, and from the fact that Maradona seemed completely befuddled as to what his best team and formation was. He has drafted in a staggering amount of different players during his reign as Argentina coach, but the final 23 which he took with him to South Africa, is arguably one of the strongest squads there.

The World Cup is all about watching your star players shine, and after criticism that he has not performed for his country, superstar Lionel Messi is standing up to take responsibility. Playing for Argentina in a completely different kettle of fish for Messi, as he has been asked to do a different role than the one which he does at Barcelona, where he naturally receives a lot of the ball. There appears to have been small adjustments in the way Maradona has set up his team, and now Messi is pretty much running games with the ball stuck to his feet. That will only work to the advantage of the Argentineans, and suddenly Argentina look a solid, comfortable side both going forward and in defence. They have never been far from the top of World Cup betting, but never were they perceived as favourites to take the title. While other top teams around them are facing challenges and upsets, Argentina look solid enough and are ready to back themselves. They should face either Mexico or Uruguay in the second round, which will mean that the Argentineans will be fully confident of reaching the quarter finals.

Argentina World Cup Betting. Messi has to get on the score sheet soon if the law of averages are anything to go by. He has had the most shots out of all Argentineans, and has been unlucky in front of goal. Taking both him and Higuain to get on the score sheet as anytime scorer will be worth looking at. Argentina should win the game, and if they get ahead early enough, Maradona will probably give some of his stars, like Messi a rest. That could affect the outcome of the game, but the Greeks do not look like a side which can realistically upset the run of the South Americans, so Argentina should be backed quite comfortably.

Argentina World Cup 2010 Stats
Played: P2, W2, D0, L0
GF/GA: 4/1
Cards: Y4, R0
Most Shots: Lionel Messi, 15
Top Scorer: Gonzalo Higuain, 3
Shots/On Goal: 42/18
Fouls Committed: 26
Total Passes: 1081
Pass Completion: 75%

Asian Handicap Betting Tip: May not quite be the all out assault on the Greek back line. Argentina will be happy to get through this comfortably without too much bother. They pretty much have things wrapped up nicely in the group, and therefore it may turn into more of a exhibition match than anything. Would still back the Argentineans to come good though.
Argentina -1 for 11/10 at Paddy Power
 

Current Greece V Argentina Odds:

Theofanis Gekas Looks To Break Greece World Cup Duck

Yep, this is Greece, the team that failed to score a single goal at the 2006 World Cup, the only European side to have not found the back of the net at the tournament. Ironically at the 2006 World Cup, they were in a group which contained Argentina and Nigeria, who they face again in 2010. But they start their campaign this time against relatively unknown opposition in South Korea, only having met twice before in International friendly matches. To be honest, this is one of those matches which offer some contrasting approaches to the game. Greece, as hinted at in the above stat, are not a team to come out an entertain the crowds and score a lot of goals. That is the perception of the Greeks, who did actually hit an average of two goals per game in their European group, and that was largely down to star striker Theo Gekas, who bagged ten of those goals on his own during a mightily impressive campaign. The Greeks finished behind Switzerland in the group, and only secured second spot on the final day. That threw them into a play-off situation against the Ukraine, who were hotly tipped to reach the World Cup finals. However, the Greeks gave the Ukrainians the real Greek treatment of playing tight, unexpansive football, and went and snatched themselves and away goal winner in the second leg. That is the big threat from Greece, squeezing the life out of the opposition and pouncing quickly on the counter punch. If Greece ever grab themselves an early goal, you can pretty much expect a nine men behind the ball for the rest of the match. The way to the first ever Greek World Cup goal will be through an aerial attack.

Another reason why you are not going to see too much football played at pace from Otto Rehhagel’s Greece, is that the nucleus of the team is a veteran one. The engine room and the heart of the Greek team, is 33 year old midfielder and captain Georgios Karagounis. Yes, Rehhagel miraculously led Greece victory at the 2004 European Championships, and the ethics of the team is still there. The other team can’t win if they can’t score. There is a degree of pressure on the Greeks going into the tournament, as the entire nation will sigh a breath of relief as soon as they net their first ever World Cup goal. Chances are that will come from 30 year old striker Theo Gekas. Interestingly Greece are the tallest side at the World Cup apparently, and the South Korean back line don’t quite measure up in the height department. The goal should come in this match, but it’s hard to see them winning. What the ambitions are for Greece is a little hard to judge, but a goal would certainly be the starting point, and then maybe a place in the second round? At first glance, they were given a relatively easy draw, it could have been a lot harder for them. But for a team who like to grind out results in an industrious manner, they will have to be at their efficient and mean best to get a result against their Asian opponents. They need a repeat showing of exactly how Uruguay frustrated France, but the funny thing is, bookmakers are favouring Greece over South Korea in World Cup odds.

National Hero Ji-Sung Park Captain of South Korea Destiny

South Korea came through the Asian qualification zone without losing a match, winning seven of their eight games. They will be a sprightly foe for Greece to try and neutralise, as shown in their build up work in a recent 1-0 loss against Spain, and a victory over the Ivory Coast. Greece, on the other hand, lost to Paraguay and Senegal in their build up, and could only draw with North Korea. Manchester United’s Ji-Sung Park is the star player in the South Korean side, and he is worshipped wherever he goes in his home nation. Their most famous export will bear a lot of weigh on his shoulder, but the 29 year old should not have too much to worry about. One thing that South Korea possess is passion, and they will bring that to the table along with speed and determination. Oh, they can also play some attractive football, and could well spark a serious challenge for one of the top two spots in the group. There is a lot at stake in what could well be a demonstration of Attack v Defence Group B match. Both sides will see this as one of their best opportunities to pick up points in the race for second place. Both would be expected to take points off Nigeria, and so that would leave a South Korea v Greece race to finish second behind Argentina.

That is how it is all expected to pan out of course. The first two games of the World Cup on Friday, showed just how cagey and nervy teams can be. This is likely to be the same, and if South Korea do manage to win this, it really will not come as much of a shock when you look over the stats below, and are a great tip to back in this group, and in their matches. Remember their fourth place finish in 2002? Remember them holding France to a draw in 2006? South Korea are still waiting on the fitness of striker Lee Dong-Gook, and it would be a bigger boost if he comes through. Out of the two teams, South Korea have the more experience, and should have more goals in them than Greece.

South Korea v Greece Betting Odds and Stats

Last 5 Matches
Greece 0, Paraguay 2
Greece 2, Korea DPR 2
Greece 0, Senegal 2
Ukraine 0, Greece 1
Greece 0, Ukraine 0

Spain 1, South Korea 0
South Korea 0, Belarus 1
Japan 0, South Korea 2
South Korea 2, Ivory Coast 0
South Korea 1, Latvia 0

Last 5 Match Goals
Greece: 3 For, 6 Against
South Korea: 5 For, 2 Against

Recent Form
Greece: P50, W25, D8, L17 with a 50.% win percentage
South Korea: P10, W6, D1, L3 with a 60.0% win percentage

World Cup Stats
Greece: P3, W0, D0, L3, GF0, GA10
South Korea: P24, W4, D7, L13, GF22, GA53

Last 10 Match Form
Greece: LLDWWDWLDL
South Korea: WWDLWWWWLL

Greece to win: 7/4 at Ladbrokes
Draw: 21/10 at Bet365
South Korea to win: 2/1 at Boylesports

Asian Handicap Betting tip: Hard to pick out any fantastic odds anywhere for this match to be honest. You may as well just go for an outright. But the best thing that was spotted is odds of around 1/2 at Bet365 is a fair bet, as it gives you the best value on a safe bet of South Korea not losing.

World Cup Group B Teams: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece. All eyes will be on Maradona’s Argentina in this group, as the world waits to see just what the coach can pull out of his hat. With the start of the World Cup just days away, the final preparations are being made by the teams participating in the World Cup and there same thing should be said of your betting strategies for the tournament. Here we aim to help you along, by looking beyond the familiar outright betting markets, and taking you into each group to see the potential behind some of the best value bets.

Win Market: Argentina 8/15 at Stan James
Well, it does not represent the best of odds in terms of reaping returns, but it should be a good solid bet. The Argentineans have yet to pull together as any kind of cohesive team, but they are arguably the most talented team in the tournament. That alone must count for a lot, and therefore it makes a solid bet in Group B, and that in its own right makes this a good value bet. Argentina under the guiding hand of World Cup legend Maradona, and he came in when the nation was in dire straits. He still looks confused in terms of knowing what personnel to pick and what formation to use in order to get the best out of them, but the one thing about this bet, is that the rest of the teams in the group are really not much of a threat to anyone. Certainly they should not be any problem in stopping Argentina topping this group. Yes, they had to scrape and battle their way into the qualification spots to actually reach the tournament, but Messi and co have the talent to win this, especially after getting such a kind World Cup draw. Whether they scrape together or build momentum slowly, they should be a shoe-in for winning this group. Remember, teams have gone to the World Cup before looking disjointed, notably Maradona’s very own World Cup wining side of 1986.

South Korea to Qualify: 5/2 at BetFred
What’s this? An outside bet? Yes, but the South Koreans are actually looking in decent form at the moment, and when you consider their main opposition for second place, Nigeria and Greece, you can only see defensive minded teams, and that could prove cannon fodder for the aggressive South Koreans, led by Manchester United’s Park Ji-Sung. They battled against Spain in a pre tournament international friendly, and weren’t over run in a 1-0 defeat. While they may not be a great team, certainly not a team that will challenge for a place in the World Cup final, but when planning your World Cup betting strategies, you have to take into consideration the level of opposition to. Nigeria have been stumbling and falling, while Greece do not really have anything to call upon besides their much lauded team spirit and striker Theo Gekas. The spirited South Koreans are the strongest of the Asian nations and really could make an impact in this group with a high pace game. Therefore, this makes them a good bet in terms of World Cup Odds.

To Concede Most Group Stage Goals: Nigeria 4/1 at Bwin
South Korea are the favourites to actually concede the most goals in Group G, but they have been showing some kind of resilience in their World Cup build up, and their natural attacking game may ease some pressure of their defensive duties. It could of course backfire and leave them all exposed at the back, but Nigeria represent good value in this market, simply because they have been quite poor. Argentina should have enough firepower to undo them, and if, in that first Group B fixture Argentina pull out a comfortable win, it could leave a huge dent in the already shaky confidence of the Nigerians. This is by no means a dead cert bet, but the value here means that it is well worth considering in your World Cup Betting. You can expect Greece to run a very tight ship, and Argentina have enough quality to keep clean sheets, therefore this bet should fall between either Nigeria or South Korea.

Under 14.5 Group Goals: Evens at Bwin
There are two ways to look at this bet. Either there is the majority of the weaker teams in the group means that scoring goals will be easier, or the fact that the teams may be working so hard not to lose as expected, they will shut up shop and set themselves up defensively. You do not look at the likes of Greece and Nigeria and expect a plethora of goals to be flowing from them. There is more of a team spirit approach to both of these nations, working hard not to give anything away in tight formations. This means that their ambitions will start matches with trying to close out opposition, and that should bring the goals down. Group B looks to be quite tight in terms of the race for the second qualification place, and therefore there will be a lot of tension in not conceding. For the six group matches, if you average two goals per game to get under this total, then it is looking realistic. Normally you would look at around 3 goals per match, but take into consideration what is a stake and the quality of the teams in this group. At Evens, it is a fair bet.

Not to Qualify: Nigeria 5/6 at SkyBet
The Super Eagles looked out of sorts at the African Cup of Nations earlier in the year. There is talk of them having a balanced squad, but they looked unbalanced in finding a way to attack. Qualification from the African Zone is a little tricky to take into consideration, because if you look at their stats alone, they look more than a competent side. However, when you look at the opposition they had to come past, such as Mozambique and Kenya, the stats somewhat negate themselves. They got the job done, and that was enough, and they are the World Cup finals. Will the tournament being held on the African continent for the first time have any influence on their progress? It is hard to see and in ways they look the weakest team in the group, despite what the best bookmakers for Betting on the World Cup are saying. To see them not qualify for the second round would not be a big surprise and therefore, this means that this bet is well worth considering.

Group B World Cup Betting Preivew: There are similarities here between the tournament in USA ’94, and it makes for some interesting betting opportunities. Why? Argentina, Nigeria and Greece were all in the same group at World Cup ‘94 and so have history and scores to settle. Who topped the group in the USA tournament then? Nigeria, thanks to a 2-0 victory over Greece.

World Cup Teams: Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea

They had one of the most entertaining qualification processes, but South American side Argentina will start Group B as firm favourites. There is absolutely no doubt or question over the ability of Argentina, epitomised by none other than Lionel Messi, but there is an unpredictability about them. World Cup legend Maradona is in charge of them for starters, and the hope is that he can somehow knit the squad into something of a team, something which they rarely showed signs of during qualification. Even with all of their troubles in securing qualification, they have always maintained their place high in the World Cup 2010 betting odds of being about fourth favourite. That is down to the class of player they have at their disposal. Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Juan Veron to name but a few. The Argentineans should, on paper, walk this relatively easy group, and then what happens is anyone’s guess, but capable of winning the tournament if they get their team act together. Nigeria showed very little of anything during the African cup of Nations back in January. They are a shadow of the former Nigeria which put in some thrilling appearances at World Cup’s past. They just aren’t that good, and along with Algeria, can be counted among the weakest of the African entrants. One thing going in their favour, is that they are in a group in which they may just be able to scrape together points to get out of, although they will need to improve on their early 2010 performances to do so. The European presence in Group B comes from Greece, who got the better of a strong Ukraine team in the play-offs. What can you expect from Greece? A tight defence and the ability to capitalise clinically on chances going forward, with Theofanis Gekas banging in an incredible 10 goals in twelve matches. They open their 2010 World Cup fixtures against South Korea, and a win could give them a great boost of confidence to get through to the first knockout stage. What of South Korea? They may be calling on experience, but they are likely to be fighting off the wooden spoon along with Nigeria in Group B. World Cup fans will remember them reaching the semi finals in 2002, but if they make it out of the group stage, it will be something of a success this time around.

Group B Betting Stats (World Cup History form in brackets)
(Final outcomes of Golden Goal, Extra Time and Penalty Shoot Out results count as wins or losses as applicable)

Argentina: Thumped Greece 4-0 at USA ‘94 in their only World Cup meeting. The South Americans have beaten Nigeria at both times of asking in 1994 and 2002, and beat the Korea Republic 3-1 at Mexico ‘86. All that should solidly confirm them as favourites for Group B. (P65, W36, D9, L20)

Greece: Will want to forget their only meeting against Argentina at the World Cup, which was a 4-0 loss at USA ‘94. Greece also lost to Nigeria at the same tournament 2-0, in a miserable group stage campaign for the Greeks, where they failed to score a single goal in their three group matches. Haven’t played the Korea Republic before at the World Cup. (P3, W0, D0, L3)

Nigeria: Beat the Greeks as mentioned above, and have lost twice to Argentina in their World Cup encounters. They will play South Korea for the first time in World Cup history. (P11, W4, D1, L6)

Korea Republic: Have only played against one of their 2010 World Cup group rivals on the world stage, and that was a defeat in 1986. New territory for them against both Greece and Nigeria in South Africa. (P24, W5, D8, L13)

World Cup Group B - Table

Group Stage Fixture List

World Cup Betting at William Hill for Outright Winner of Group B, has Nigeria at 4/1, Greece at 8/1, South Korea at 9/1 and Argentina are favourites at 4/9 (and 9/1 to Win the World Cup Outright).

Manager: Otto Rehhagel
Captain: Giorgos Karagounis
FIFA Ranking: 12
World Cup appearances: 1
Best World Cup: Round 1 – 1994 

Greece Team Profile

The 2004 European Champions will be making just their second appearance in the finals of a World Cup when they travel to South Africa after successfully coming through a two-legged qualifying play-off to get there, beating Ukraine 1-0 on aggregate after a 1-0 win in Donetsk.

The Greeks will be lead in by Otto Rehhagel of Germany, one of the longest serving international managers in modern history after spending nine years at the helm of the Greek national team. Rehhagel is up their with the sporting bests in Greece, with his leadership qualities and motivational skills enabling Greece to perform to some very high standards in recent tournaments, even winning the 2004 European Championships against all odds, while the loyal and passionate Greece fans will wish for another shock win when they make the long distance trip to South Africa in the summer.

Despite Rehhagel’s position as manager looking assured after gaining qualification into South Africa, the pressure will certainly be on the German and his Greek squad to perform after an unsatisfactory display in the 2008 European Championships which seen Greece fail to make it past the group stages. Their group this time around remains competitive but one they could quite easily bypass, so there will be no excuse for failure in South Africa.

Strengths

The Greeks are worldwide renowned for their stubborn, resolute qualities. Otto Rehhagel sets his team up in an organised manner, with every defensive and midfield player knowing their role and often performing their respective duties to perfection. The Greeks really are a well oiled machine when it comes to defending, while their patient attitude when in possession enables them to dictate the tempo of most games and go at a pace that suits them, which is generally walking pace.

Weaknesses

Greece, for all their admirable qualities at the back and in midfield, aren’t the most attractive of teams on the eye, nor do they play the most entertaining of football. They go at their own pace, which is often very steady and sometimes extremely slow, to the point where the play often stops and breaks down. However, what this all boils down to is when Greece do need a goal, in those do or bust situations, they lack the required urgency needed in order to pile necessary pressure on the opposing defence. Moreover, because of their slow build ups, Greece are very predictable and very easy to defend against.

Greece Qualification for the World Cup

Sector: European
Group: 2
Position: 2nd
Win-Draw-Lose: 6-3-1
Goals Scored: 20
Goals Conceded: 10

It took a two-legged play-off with Ukraine to decide Greece’s World Cup fate. In typical Greece fashion, they made both legs scrappy and untidy, but it proved an effective tactic as they prevailed over two-legs thanks to a 1-0 win in the away leg in Donetsk.

World Cup Potential: 1/5

If we’re completely honest, we don’t think Greece will go far and, quite frankly, we don’t want them too either. They are one of the dullest footballing nations to watch and the sooner they leave the competition the better. It’s very, very rare that you come across an entertaining affair when Greece are involved, and in the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet, everyone wants to be treated to exciting games. The Greeks are too slow in their build up and often turn games in a snooze-fest, while world-class talent is at a premium to really make any serious in-roads anyway.

Greece World Cup Betting Odds

Greece to win the World Cup – 350/1 Expekt

Before the World Cup the odds on Argentina were 199/1 

Official Greece World Cup Squad

Goalkeepers

Tzorvas (Panathinaikos Athens)

Chalkias (PAOK Thessaloniki)

Sifakis (Aris Saloniki)

Defenders

Seitaridis (Panathinaikos Athens)

Vyntra (Panathinaikos Athens)

Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos Athens)

A. Papadopoulos (Olympiakos)

Torosidis (Olympiakos)

Kyrgiakos (Liverpool)

Papastathopoulos (Genoa)

Moras (Bologna)

Malezas (PAOK Thessaloniki)

Midfielders

Karagounis (Panathinaikos Athens)

Katsouranis (Panathinaikos Athens)

Ninis (Panathinaikos Athen)

Prittas (Aris)

Tziolis (Siena)

Patzazoglou (Omonia Nicosia)

Strikers

Charisteas (Nuremberg)

Gekas (Hertha Berlin)

Salpigidis (Panathinaikos Athens)

Samaras (Celtic Glasgow)

Kapetanos (Steaua Bucarest)

last update: 18 June 2010

World Cup 2010 Greece Fixtures – Group B

World Cup Group B - Table

World Cup Fixtures and Results

World Cup Group of Greece