Santos left to rue Greece's lack of creativity
Thursday, March 1, 2012
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Greece coach Fernando Santos was unimpressed by his side's lack of creativity and was determined that they would "remedy several things" after drawing 1-1 with ten-man Belgium.
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Greece coach Fernando Santos was left to rue his team's lack of creativity after they surrendered the lead and then failed to break down a Belgium side who were reduced to ten men for the final half-hour of the 1-1 draw in Heraklion. Greece midfielder and captain Kostas Katsouranis, meanwhile, took the positives from what was an impressive display by 19-year-old debutant Kostas Fortounis.
Fernando Santos, Greece coach
For large parts of the match we didn't play as I wanted. We were good for ten minutes, during which we managed to score. Then we let our guard down and conceded a goal from a set piece, which is not like us. In the second half we managed to control the ball but it was obvious we have a problem with our attacking game. We need to remedy several things because we want to do well at UEFA EURO 2012. I will pick the final 23-man squad from a total of 30 to 35 players. Hopefully we won't have any injuries so the final list will be a proper choice for me.
Kostas Katsouranis, Greece midfielder
We were mediocre in the first half. In the second we improved but didn't find the winning goal. This game will be useful for our coach and we look forward to working hard and preparing [for the EURO] in Austria. In my opinion the positive from the game was the debut of Kostas Fortounis. Despite being very young at just 19 years old he put in a very good performance.
Giorgos Samaras, Greece forward
We could have played much better. But in the two days we had together, we couldn't prepare like we wanted. When our preparations start in May we will be able to work better. That will be the time to draw conclusions. What is important now is to stay fit and healthy until the end of the season.
Georges Leekens, Belgium coach
In the first minutes of the game we made mistakes and paid for them. The goal we conceded was a gift. Afterwards we equalised and had more of the ball. Even with ten players we were in command. Unfortunately we had to substitute [Eden] Hazard, who was very lively, because of a groin problem.