Euro 2008 Preview: Greece v. Russia

Greece

vs

Russia

Saturday, June 14, 2045 CET
Salzburg (Austria)

THE BIG PICTURE

The Greeks played their trademark defensive game against Sweden in the opening round, and they would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for that pesky Zlatan. The Russians played with more style, but were beaten even more handily by Spain. One will need to find some attack, the other a bit more defense, or they will be ending their SwissAustrian adventure earlier than planned. The winner of this match will have a chance at the second-place quarterfinal spot, though the group winner will probably come from the winner of Spain v Sweden.

GREECE

Three Key Players:

Antonios Nikopolidis – The Greek keeper will need to stay strong. He wasn’t terrible in the first match, but we saw none of the brilliance of his 2004 performance.

Angelos Basinas – Team captain Basinas will need to maintain possession better against Russia, and he has the ability to do better in setting up successful attacks. The question is, does he have the target men?

Theofanis Gekas – The Greeks were toothless against Sweden. The fresh faces on the Greek attack, Gekas and Samaras, will need to come in and inject some threat into this side, or the Russians will make a meal of them.

Greece squad
Greece Team Profile

Visit Takis at the Greece Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

Buy Greece team gear here.

RUSSIA

Three Key Players:

Konstantin Zyrianov – As one-sided as the Spain match was, there were flashes of potential from the supremely talented Zenit midfielder. Against a less formidable Greek midfield, he could shine.

Roman Pavlyuchenko – All the talk about Russia has centered around the strikers that aren’t on the pitch. Russia misses Pogrebnyak and Arschavin, but Pavyluchenko scored the lone goal against Spain, and he’ll look to add to his account.

Igor Akinfeev – The young CSKA keeper got a trial by fire against Spain, but this will be a fairer test. If you can’t keep a clean sheet against Greece, the way their offense played the last match, you aren’t ready for this stage. Igor still has the chance to impress us as an up-and-coming young talent between the posts.

Russia squad
Russia Team Profile

Visit Nick at the Russia Euro 2008 Team Blog for more.

Buy Russia team gear here

BIG BATTLES

Pavyluchenko vs The Titans Greece’s center backs are tough, tall and take no prisoners. Can Russia’s best (remaining) scoring option break them down?

Basinas vs Zyrianov Neither midfield leader played particularly well in the first round. Which will step up and direct their team to victory? Will either?

Greek tactics vs. football The Greeks didn’t win many fans over with style points in the first match. Winning ugly is one thing, but when the results don’t go your way, there’s nothing worse than losing ugly. The Greeks can attack, but seemed afraid to. That’s a fear they’ll have to shake off, and quickly.

Bet on Euro 2008

LIVEBLOG

Follow the Greece vs Russia LiveBlog here.