Greece squad at Euro 2004
Greece
Euro 2004 Home | Squad | Star Player | Key Man
Greece were one of the surprise teams of the qualifying round. After two games they looked dead and buried, having lost to Spain and the Ukraine without finding the net. However, something changed and they went on to win all their remaining matches without conceding a goal. This impressive run of form was based on a solid defence and a midfield that is hard to break down. They may well be capable of frustrating one of the big boys in Group A, although goals will be hard to come by. They failed to score at USA '94 and didn't win a game at Euro 1980 (their only other finals appearance). There are few big names and few players capable of stamping their mark on a game at this level.
Squad
Coach: Otto Rehhagel
| Goalkeepers: 1-Antonis Nikopolidis (Panathinaikos), 12-Kostas Chalkias (Panathinaikos), 13-Fanis Katergiannakis (Olympiakos Piraeus) Defenders: 5-Traianos Dellas (Roma), 18-Yannis Goumas (Panathinaikos), 2-Yourkas Seitaridis (Panathinaikos), 14-Takis Fyssas (Benfica), 4-Nikos Dabizas (Leicester City), 3-Stelios Venetidis (Olympiakos Piraeus), 19-Michalis Kapsis (AEK Athens) Midfielders: 22-Costas Katsouranis (AEK Athens), 6-Angelos Basinas (Panathinaikos), 7-Theodoros Zagorakis (AEK Athens), 16-Pantelis Kafes (Olympiakos Piraeus), 23-Vassilis Lakis (AEK Athens), 10-Vassilis Tsartas (AEK Athens), 17-Giorgios Georgiadis (Olympiakos Piraeus), 8-Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton Wanderers), 20-Giorgos Karagounis (Inter) Forwards: 21-Dimitrios Papadopoulos (Panathinaikos), 15-Zisis Vryzas (Fiorentina), 9-Angelos Haristeas (Werder Bremen), 11-Demis Nikolaidis (Atletico Madrid) |
| Demis Nikolaidis is the main goal scorer in a generally goal-shy squad. He's just completed his first season overseas in the Spanish Primera Liga after a successful spell with AEK Athens. However, he's made little impact on the scorers charts, having only found the net six times. Nikolaidis was actually born in Germany but brought up in Greece where he learnt the game. Now he plays for a German manager at international level. |
|
| Key Man | Now aged 31, Vassilis Tsiartas is in the twilight of his international career. He's vastly experienced, having played at the top level in Spain with Sevilla, and now plys his trade back home with AEK Athens. Tsiartas is one of the most skillful players his country has ever produced and is a great ball player with a powerful shot. He's likely to be given a certain degree of freedom to operate in an advanced midfield position |
