Too little, too late for Greece
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Article summary
Greece strikers Angelos Charisteas and Nikos Liberopoulos felt the holders put in a much improved display against Russia but bemoaned their luck as defeat ended their reign.
Article top media content
Article body
Greece's second UEFA EURO 2008™ match brought a second defeat yet despite the premature end to the defending champions' reign, a battling performance against Russia was a marked improvement on their 2-0 opening-day loss to Sweden.
Charisteas analysis
The 1-0 reverse against Russia in Salzburg means that Greece will finish bottom of Group D even if they beat Spain on Wednesday. Angelos Charisteas, the goalscoring hero four years ago in the final defeat of Portugal, feels the footballing gods have conspired against his team. "Our performance was positive, but we didn't have luck on our side," he said. "We managed to make our fans happy, though, because our display makes them hopeful for the future. Against Spain we have nothing to lose, we will play without stress and prove that we have a good team."
Improvement
Striker Nikos Liberopoulos – who started last night after not featuring in the opener – agreed with his fellow forward. "Compared to our first encounter, we improved a lot," he said. "We wanted to win so badly and we created many chances, but the ball wouldn't go in. That's football. Even before travelling to Austria, we knew that we would have no easy opponents here. It's the tournament for Europe's best teams. What we should do now is try to relax and enjoy our remaining group match against Spain. The result next Wednesday will be irrelevant." Another attacker, Fanis Gekas, was taken to hospital after the game after suffering a blow to his cheekbone.
