Greece Welcomes Its Third Opportunity to Participate in the World Cup

     Immigrating to Greece focuses on Greek Sports: Greece has participated in the World Cup twice in its history, once in 1994 and once in 2010, and they will welcome their third opportunity to participate in the World Cup. In the qualifiers, Greece was grouped with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Liechtenstein, ultimately achieving 8 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss for a total of 25 points, scoring 12 goals and conceding 4. They finished second to Bosnia and Herzegovina on goal difference. In the subsequent playoffs, Greece first won 3-1 at home against Romania, then drew 1-1 away, securing a total score of 4-2 to qualify for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

 

 

Star Players

The captain of Greece, the team's flag bearer Angelos Charisteas, is still part of the team and holds a starting position. This midfielder, born in 1977, set a new record for appearances for the Greek national team (121 matches) during the qualifiers against Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the away playoff match against Romania, Charisteas's appearances reached 131, a number that will continue to increase with the World Cup approaching. Charisteas currently plays for Fulham in the Premier League.

In Greece's forward line, the tall striker Georgios Samaras should not be underestimated; this Celtic center forward possesses excellent skills, physicality, and teamwork abilities. The young winger from Genoa, attacking midfielder Panagiotis Fetfatzidis, is also worth watching.

Head Coach

The head coach of the Greek national team is Fernando Santos, a Portuguese born in 1954. He has coached several Portuguese giants such as Porto, Benfica, and Sporting Lisbon, as well as Greek teams like AEK Athens, Panathinaikos, and PAOK. In the 1998/99 season, he led Portugal to win the Primeira Liga title, and in 2002, he guided AEK Athens to win the Greek Cup. He has been named the Greek Super League Coach of the Year four times and was recognized as the best coach of the Greek Super League from 2000 to 2010.

On July 1, 2010, Santos was appointed as the head coach of the Greek national team, succeeding the previous coach, "Otto the Great" Rehhagel. Santos initially signed a two-year contract, which was later extended. He led the team to the quarter-finals of the 2012 UEFA European Championship. Under Santos's leadership, Greece qualified for the final tournament of the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

Historical Achievements

Greece's first participation in the World Cup was in 1994, where they lost all three matches without scoring a goal and conceded 10 goals, with scores of 0-4 against Argentina, 0-4 against Bulgaria, and 0-2 against Nigeria. In the 2010 World Cup, Greece lost 0-2 to South Korea, won 2-1 against Nigeria, and lost 0-2 to Argentina, failing to reach the round of 16.