The Hindu : Sport / Football : Greece takes heart from Bolton

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 01, 2004

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Sport - Football

Greece takes heart from Bolton

By Dominic Fifield

BRAGA, JUNE 30. The Greeks can do nothing wrong these days and, for their German coach Otto Rehhagel, the good news just keeps coming. Stelios Giannakopoulos, his combative midfielder, has recovered from injury and will line up against the Czechs on Thursday as Greece maintain their unlikely bid for a place in the final.

Giannakopoulos limped out of the 1-1 draw against Spain with a calf strain which forced him to miss the final group game with Russia and last week's startling quarterfinal success over the defending champions France. But he has since returned to full training at the team's idyllic hill-top retreat at Falperra, taking part in a practice match on Tuesday, and is likely to replace Angelos Basinas against the Czechs.

"It was bad luck for me picking up that injury at that time but I'm training again now and I'll be fit to play," said the Bolton Wanderers midfielder who has become an integral part of Rehhagel's side, providing creation alongside industry in midfield.

"This will be the biggest game of my career so far and the biggest game for all my team-mates, too. We can go into it with confidence. There'll be a lot of fans over from Greece and that will be a big weapon for us. We've got nothing to lose, we'll give our best, give 100% and we can go all the way to the final. Why not?"

There has been little in their performances in Portugal to suggest that the Greeks cannot force a passage to Lisbon. Aside from a nerve-racked defeat by Russia in their third group game, they have successfully stifled opponents, not least the host nation and the French, and hit with pace and bite on the break.

The impressive Fiorentina striker Zisis Vryzas will add to their options when he returns from a one-match suspension tomorrow, with Internazionale's Georgios Karagounis expected to shrug off a minor foot injury which has restricted him to light training. The Czechs may have won all four of their games in this tournament but they will do well to be wary of the threat posed by the Greeks.

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