Germany and Greece will fight it out for a place in the last four tonight in Gdansk in one of the most poorly balanced encounters in the round of eight. While the Germans are one of the pre-tournament favorites, the Greeks managed to stage a huge upset win in their final group game against Russia and went through on the basis of UEFA’s extraordinary ‘Coefficients Permutations’. Germany will field their full strength team tonight without any major injury concerns or suspensions while the Euro 2004 winners would be without their captain and the man who rescued them from the jaws of elimination, Giorgos Karagounis. Thankfully, we are past the group stages and the outcome of the match will solely depend on who wins it tonight and although the general consensus would be a win for the Mannschaft, there are no guarantees in football.
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A Glance at the Two Teams
Super Mario?
Germany, along with Spain, are the most balanced sides in this tournament with quality in all their departments. Arguably one of the best shot stoppers presently in the world, Manuel Neuer stands tall between the sticks with the ever so dependable Matt Hummels and Phillip Lahm in defense – they are a very well knit defensive unit. Jerome Boateng was terrific in their opening fixture against Portugal where he kept Cristiano Ronaldo silent for the entire game and after having served his one match suspension, he would be back in the right of defense to replace Lars Bender. Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger have done exceedingly well so far in the tournament, especially the Real Madrid midfielder who has been a real dynamo in the center. Mesut Ozil has had one of the best club seasons of his career for Real Madrid and although he is yet to hit top gear in this tournament, it is only a matter of time. And then there is Mario Gomez. And if that was not all, Germany possess an equally good bench with the likes of Miroslav Klose, Toni Kroos, Mario Goetze to come in and change the game at any point in the match.
The young star has been a revelation.
Greece have the one of the most lightweight teams on paper but they have got plenty of experience in that side. Katsouranis will take over the captain’s armband and inspire his side to what could be the biggest upset in this tournament if they make it tonight. Sokratis Papasthopoulos and Kyriakos Papadopoulos will have to be at their very best to negate the threat that will be Mario Gomez, the latter having been one of the stand out performers in this bland Greece side. Giorgos Samaras is a curious case and has to play above his normal below average self if they intend to get anything against this very strong German side.
The Mannschaft have never lost to Greece. Their record in eight previous head-to-head meetings is Win 5, Draw 3.
Possible Starting Line Ups:
Germany:
Neuer; Boateng, Hummels, Badstuber, Lahm; Schweinsteiger, Khedira; Muller, Ozil, Podolski; Gomez
Greece
Sifakis; Torosidis, Papasthopoulos, Papadopoulos, Tzavelas; Katsouranis, Maniatis; Salpingidis, Ninis, Samaras; Gekas
Prediction
There is a vast gulf in class between the two sides and the history isn’t in the favor of Greece either. How many of us did bet on them back in Euro 2004? None would be a close guess. Miracles don’t happen twice in 8 years and I don’t see any possibility for this Greece side to get beyond Germany. Joachim Loew is blessed with a fantastic crop of young players who can pass the opponents to death. Mario Gomez has put behind the ghosts of Champions League final in Allianz Arena and has looked really sharp in front of goal. Greece will have to defend with every single player on the pitch and try on hold out for as long as possible. Their best chance for scoring a goal would be during set pieces and that’s what Fernando Santos would be teaching his boys now on the training grounds. This Euro 2012 has been anything but predictable, there have been surprises, but a Greek win tonight would be well beyond any surprise ever witnessed, more close to a catastrophe. For me, it would be an easy and handsome 2-0 win for the Germans. Mario Gomez to continue scoring and how could it be possible that Klose would play yet not score? A goal in the offing? Maybe.
