#21-Greece

#21-Greece
Nickname-Ethniki (National)
UEFA (Union of European Football Associations)
FIFA Ranking-#13
Group C (Colombia, Greece, Cote D'Ivoire, Japan)
Projected Results...
Loss to Colombia
Tie to Cote D'Ivoire
Tie to Japan
Manager-Fernando Santos
Qualified through second place finish in UEFA WC Qualification Group G, and a playoff victory over Romania 4-2 on aggregare
3rd World Cup Appearance (1994, 2010)
Projected Finish-Third in Group C

Greece is always such a stingy team to play against.  They are always compact defensively, and have really bought into the system introduced by manager Fernando Santos.  I'm biased against Greece, since they tore my heart out by beating Portugal in the Euro 2004 final in which Portugal were the host country (it's time that I reveal I support Portugal and USA-Portugal because my mother was born there, and obviously USA because I am American). It sucked, but I respect that they are always a pain in the ass to play against.  This group is one that they can advance past, since Falcao injured his knee for group favorites Colombia. The key game is going to be Cote D'Ivoire, but I think Cote D'Ivoire will be able to get a draw. I have this feeling that Greece is just a little below par of the other opponents, but should salvage at least a draw against Japan, perhaps more. Greece are a product of an easy qualification group-they missed out on first place in the group due to a lesser goal differential than Bosnia and Herzegovina. I think the FIFA ranking at 13 is a bit high, but we'll see.  This group is WIDE open. Let's see what they can do.  Key players:

Georgios Samaras-"The Greek Jesus". He plays for Celtic Glasgow, and is a striker. He has played in the Champions League, and scored big goals against Barcelona and Spartak Moscow in their 2012-13 Champions League campaign. He's a quality striker who has a knack for big goals. He'll definitely be counted upon. Aged 29, in his prime. 71 appearances, 8 goals.

Kostas Mitroglou-Former Olympiacos striker, but recently was transferred to Fulham. For me, he's the most dangerous Greek player. He possesses an immense amount of quality in goal scoring and holding up play. He's also very strong in the air. 26 years old and playing in a world class league, he should be in good form by the time the World Cup starts. 29 appearances, 8 goals. Nice strike rate there.

Giorgos Karagounis-The 37 year old wonder.  I remember watching him play for my favorite team Benfica when I first started watching soccer like 10 years ago. He still is so effective for Greece. While his speed isn't there as much as it used to be, his quality in passing and shooting is. He hasn't played much for Premier League side Fulham this year, but he will command the best out of his teammates, since he is the captain and the elder statesman on the team. Probably his last World Cup, since he will be 41 next World Cup, but who knows? He's aged well. 132(!!!) appearances, 10 goals.

The Greeks will be feisty and a pain in the ass. Don't know if the team is good enough to get to the knockout stages, but we will see. They will be involved in very close games. Third place in this group sounds right, but second place wouldn't surprise me.