Gekas gives Greece renewed belief

Bayer 04 Leverkusen striker Theofanis Gekas's dramatic return to form has given Greece coach Otto Rehhagel a timely boost as the countdown to UEFA EURO 2008™ continues.

Top form
The European champions play Portugal in Dusseldorf on 26 March with the 27-year-old in the sort of form that will have Rehhagel looking forward to the rematch of the UEFA EURO 2004™ final with confidence. After a slow start to the season Gekas has come to life, scoring in his last four Leverkusen appearances to help his side to third in the Bundesliga and into the UEFA Cup quarter-finals. It is the forward's best spell since signing from VfL Bochum 1848 last summer.

'Big family'
"Now I have arrived and feel really comfortable here," Gekas said. "Even during the times when things weren't going so well for me, my team-mates really supported me. We are a big family. I have finally been able to help the team and the fans again with some good games and goals. I hope moments like this come more often. I had a tough time and a mini-crisis which I have now overcome. I have shown the coach and myself that I can still score goals."

Clever lob
Despite topping the Bundesliga scoring chart with 20 goals last term, Gekas has been unable to hold down a starting place at the BayArena. That may be about to change. He was restored to the lineup for the first leg of the UEFA Cup tie with Hamburger SV and scored the only goal of the match. Three days later he got the opener with a clever lob in a 2-0 victory against Hannover 96 then set up the second.

Sole survivor
On Wednesday Gekas was on target again, scoring Leverkusen's second in their 3-2 loss at Hamburg that took his team through to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup on away goals. Two more in the 4-1 rout of 1. FC Nürnberg on Sunday has put Leverkusen in with an excellent chance of returning to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in three years. Another win against leaders FC Bayern München on Sunday would leave Leverkusen, who have never won the title, just three points off the top.

Skibbe praise
"Gekas was given his chance [against Hannover] and made good use of it," Leverkusen coach Michael Skibbe said. "He fought on the pitch, ran a lot and I'm satisfied with his football." Gekas, who is in his second year in Germany after spells at Larissa FC, Kallithea FC and Panathinaikos FC in his homeland, is Leverkusen's top scorer in the Bundesliga with ten goals. He also holds the distinction of being the only Greek international still left in European competition.

Fit and healthy
Antonios Nikopolidis, Paraskevas Antzas, Vassilis Torosidis and Christos Patsatzoglou all bowed out with Olympiacos CFP against Chelsea FC in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round, while Georgios Samaras's Celtic FC fell to Barcelona at the same hurdle. Konstantinos Katsouranis's SL Benfica and Stelios Giannakopoulos's Bolton Wanderers FC were both eliminated in the UEFA Cup last week. Gekas has scored six goals in 23 appearances for his country since making his debut in March 2005, most recently hitting a hat-trick against Malta in a UEFA European Championship qualifier in November. His most important goal now, though, is to ensure he stays fit and healthy ahead of Greece's title defence this summer.