Rehhagel rallies team for Sweden test

Otto Rehhagel has urged his Greece players to "seize their opportunities" as the European champions begin the defence of their title against Sweden in Salzburg on Tuesday.

Tension mounting
The German coach, known as 'King Otto' in Greece after guiding the side to UEFA EURO 2004™ glory, has been in positive mood before the Group D encounter at the Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim – where the rest of the competition will be eager to see how the holders shape up. "We have concluded our preparations and the tension is mounting. We are really looking forward to kicking off," the 69-year-old said. "The first couple of matches in the tournament have shown that this will be a great event because the teams appear to be in it with all their hearts."

Record-breaker
Much of the pre-match focus has centred around whether Rehhagel, Greece's longest-serving coach, can become the first trainer to retain the Henri Delaunay trophy. But the former Werder Bremen stalwart refused to be taken down hypothetical avenues. "Well, this summer I will have been Greece coach for seven years and this is already a record which I think will be difficult for anyone else to achieve," Rehhagel said. "But I know what my team are capable of, what opportunities we have – and what we must do now is seize these opportunities." Rehhagel happily reported that all of his players are fit, saying that in theory "any of them could be fielded" in the starting XI.

Lagerbäck realistic
Lars Lagerbäck's Sweden are also aiming to get off to a flying start and, ahead of what is their first competitive meeting with Tuesday's opponents, the 59-year-old is well aware of the threat posed by the Greeks. "I think it's going to be a very even match," he said. "We know Greece pretty well and I'm sure they know us too. They are very strong physically, have good variation in attack and, above all, they are good at set-pieces."

Swedish expectations
Sweden's best performance in a UEFA European Championship came in 1992 when they reached the semi-finals on home soil, and since then expectations of success in major finals have been high. They were quarter-finalists at UEFA EURO 2004™ – losing on penalties against the Netherlands – before contesting the Round of 16 at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where they fell to hosts Germany. "It's quite natural for expectations to grow for us, because we want to have better results than we've had in the past, but of course it's important to be realistic as well," added Lagerbäck, who also confirmed that striker Zlatan Ibrahimović has recovered from a knee injury and is available to play. "I think it's going to be a tight group but we feel we have a good chance to progress."