A Parigi, ieri sera, un clamoroso "errore" arbitrale spezza definitivamente il sogno del Trap di portare l'Eire ai Mondiali e regala, invece, il pass per il Sudafrica ai galletti di Domenech. Ma la qualficazione della Francia ai Mondiali del prossimo anno è immeritata e, soprattutto, viziata da un fallo di mano pazzesco di Henry che consente a Gallas di realizzare il prezioso pari (gli irlandesi erano passati in vantaggio con Robbie Keane). Click to continue reading...

Before Adebayor, Robinho and the other eight strikers at City, there used to be Georgios Samaras. Although highly touted by Stuart Pearce, he failed to make an impact in the two years while at the club.

When Sven Goran Ericksson was made manager Samaras was confined mostly to the bench.

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The UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs wrapped up on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 with the second legs. Greece faced Ukraine in one of the matches with the score 0-0 on aggregate after the first leg. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Greece beats Ukraine 1-0 Video Highlights

Greece scored a first half goal and was able to hold Ukraine scoreless as they earned their spot in South Africa next summer.

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Ukraine and Greece head into the 2nd leg encounter after a goalless draw at Athens. Ukraine's' captain Andry Shevchenko knows that this is the last chance for him for a final World Cup appearance and it's the best occasion to earn the qualification berth in front of the home fans. A nerve tingling encounter awaits the [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is on a collision course with Denmark over the fitness of Daniel Agger.
The Reds centre half has managed just 68 minutes for the reserves this season so far, as he slowly returns from a back problem, but looks set to play for his country in two games over the next four days. Click to continue reading...

For all its parity with the other three big European leagues, the Bundesliga coaches have had considerably less sway in influencing other European big leagues.

Felix Magath's success with three Bundesliga teams should have seen his stock rise across Europe but has Chelsea come knocking? He is moving to Schalke.

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If there has been one team in recent times that has shown that the age of the man-marker is not dead, it was the Greek side that carried off an extraordinary triumph at Euro 2004.
It was a triumph for underdog fanciers rather than lovers of the beautiful game, admittedly. Otto Rehhagel's men won few points for style, and indeed Paul Gardner, World Soccer's resident frother-at-the-mouth, has made the 2004 Greeks into the footballing devil incarnate, frequently using them as the topic of his monotonous tirades. Click to continue reading...

The big story of Wednesday night's Greece vs. Italy friendly, which let's face it had the "boring" stamp written all over it before it even started (especially with Inter vs. Juventus coming up this week-end), is that Marcello Lippi is now officially the best Azzurri coach ever. Sure, winning the 2006 World Cup helped in [. Click to continue reading...

Making Kyrgiakos captain was not enough to limit the damage when playing the red team away, so now we've slipped to sixth.  We'll have to wait another week to move back up though, since World Cup 2010 qualifiers return this weekend. Speaking of which, former AEK star Lyberopoulos is trying to rally the fans behind the [. Click to continue reading...

Those of you who read my game review from last weekend's derby know I think quite a lot of Pliatsikas. Apparently, so does King Otto. Pliatsikas's first call-up, combined with Rehhagel's call-up of Ninis and exclusion of Giannakopoulos may mean that King Otto is finally about the business of revamping the National Team. Click to continue reading...

Otto Rehhagel has made his final call-ups ahead of his side's international friendly against Slovakia on August 20th. Visiting the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, the friendly against the Slovaks will be Greece's first action since their early exit from the European Championships in mid-June. After making call-ups of international players earlier Click to continue reading...

Video ansehen

Der Gewinn der EM 2004 mit Griechenland war eine Sensation. Es war nicht die einzige aber von außen betrachtet die größte in der Fußballerlaufbahn von Otto Rehhagel.

Von 1960 - 1972 spielte Rehhagel für Rot-Weiß-Essen, Hertha BSC und den 1. FC Kaiserslautern und brachte es auf 201 Bundesliga-Einsätze, in denen er 22 Tore erzielte.

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Greece is scheduled to play Slovakia in Bratislava in two weeks time, and Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has already made his first set of squad selections. The preliminary squad list which includes only Greek players playing abroad, features many of the players that starred in Greece's dismal EURO 2008 run. Click to continue reading...

Last Stand in Salzburg for Hiddink or Rehhakles?
Spain v Sweden, Innsbruck
Greece v Russia, Salzburg
Greetings from Innsbruck in the South West of Austria, a city in a spectacular mountain setting, capital of Tyrol and former home of the Winter Olympics. Click to continue reading...

The defending champions are on the verge of being eliminated from the competition in this live online and radio commentary Euro 2008 group match between Greece and Russia live and they need to quickly change their strategy or risk being one of the fastest eliminated champions in history. They are confused about their tactics for this live online streaming match and if they do not figure it out soon, they could be in for a hiding by the Russians who are itching to get started. Click to continue reading...

In terms of a wake-up call, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunning 67th-minute strike against the Greeks on Tuesday night rates up their with a bucket of ice-cold water in the face.
I was slowly slipping into a comatose state when the lanky Inter Milan forward struck his sweet half-volley to finally inject some dynamism into one of the most boring matches I have ever had the misfortune to dribble into my beer in front of. Click to continue reading...

Greece JUNE 04. Greece Fifa ranking. 61 JUNE 08. Greece Fifa ranking. 10. That says it all really. Greece's 2004 victory was simply the biggest shocker in the history of the game and they are the most improved team in Europe over the past 5 years. No one expects them to win this again, especially after we spanked them 4-0 in Gingernuts 1st game. Click to continue reading...

For a few weeks now, one colleague has been absent from Galaxy home games. For now, it seems that Martin Rogers has put MLS way back on his list of priorities as Rogers is covering Euro 2008.

As always, Rogers has produced a string of quality stories that will help the casual fan follow the tournament better or the knowledgeable fan gain some sort of insight on the tournament. Click to continue reading...

The BBC has a decent "where are they now" article that looks at the Greek stars of the Euro 2004 team. For AEK fans, the article is a bit depressing. It reminds us that AEK supplied five star players to 2004 national team squad that conquered Europe. It then slowly peels the scab back and [...] Click to continue reading...

King Otto named his squad for Euro 2008 today, and AEK's Papastathopoulos did not make the final cut.  The squad contains ten players from the 2004 champions squad, including AEK's center back Dellas and striker Lyberopoulos.  Full details here. Click to continue reading...

Otto Rehhagel, aka King Otto, has picked his 24-man national team squad and it includes AEK's center-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos.  Papastathopoulos, age 19, is the only youth player to have made the next-to-final cut (the 24-man team named for Saturday's friendly will have to be trimmed by one player prior to Euro 2008). Click to continue reading...

I mean it. On February 3rd, a scrappy Apollon Kalamarias side upset heavily-favored champions Olympiacos 1-0. Olympiacos ran to the EPO protesting that Apollon fielded an ineligible player. The EPO ruled in Olympiacos's favor, reversed the result of the match and docked Apollon an additional point. Click to continue reading...

In Sunday's post (just below this one) I hinted that Ferrer may not have been as composed off camera as he appeared on camera. The Greek press, in an interview with Veria's coach, has confirmed that Ferrer berated Veria's coaching staff and players at half time over AEK's disputed third goal, which looked to everyone [. Click to continue reading...