The Road to 2010 South Africa: Greece

July 16, 2009

The “Pirate ship”, that tight, disciplined but uncreative juggernaut, known as the Greek national team has somehow managed to find their way, barely , to the top of European qualifying group 2. Struggling to emerge from the huge footprints of their predecessors, the 2004 euro champions, like Modern Greece trying to define herself in the shadow of the ancient dynasties, suffer from not being able to reinvent themselves, to find their own personality and to master their own path to success.

Somehow they have managed to squeeze out just enough points to maintain their post position going into the final four games, but the group is still very much up for grabs. They lead second place Switzerland, who already beat the Greeks, in Pireaus, only by virtue of goal difference. A lead made even more precarious by the fact that their next qualifying match, October , is against Switzerland, in Switzerland. With the tough, but inconsistent, Israeli’s and the wildly unpredictable Latvians, still hungry and in the hunt the Greeks have put themselves in a now or never situation…again.

While Coach Otto Rehhagel has been able to install some excitement and flair into an otherwise tenacious, but boring squad with the freewheeling Theo Gekas and the still underappreciated Giorgios Samaras, he like too many of the older squad members seems a little too content to rest on past successes and not as motivated as he once was. That said, and to be fair, it was that same, just enough to get by, attitude that carved the path to the Euro championship in the first place. And from another perspective Coach Rehhagel , has been working as hard as a mechanic, tightening bolts, fixing leaks and somehow finding enough spark to ignite and power the team on. He is yet to find an onfield skipper to lead with the same heroic and tireless character of Zagorakis. Now would be as good a time as ever for the Panathaikos captain, Giorgios Karagounis to step it up a level and inspire the passion the Greeks are definitely capable of playing with.

One of the glaring challenges facing Coach Rehhagel is the lack of structure and organization in Greek youth Football which has left him with diminishing options. Of course, after eight years at the helm, he has to accept some of the responsibility for that state of affairs himself. He’s had ample time to initiate change and to vitalize the youth system. In 2004, he was dealing with the harvest he had, but by not getting involved enough more in re-seeding the fields and having a more long term view of his role, he is now facing the stark reality of trying to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

If it is the Greeks intention to not only qualify, but to enter the tournament with more than stars in their eyes as they did in their only previous tournament in 1994, when they lost three straight and exited, they need to intensify their play immediately. Somehow, the Greeks need to mobilize and take their game to another level, using the final four qualifiers to not only win their group, but to do so with conviction, so that they can arrive at South Africa not, just barely, but pumped up with passion dancing to a new bouzokee sound. They have the potential to be more than just a difficult to solve defensive labrynth. They have the potential to play with fire.

They just need someone to light the torch.

Key upcoming matches:

September 5^th at Switzerland

September 9^th at Moldova

October 10^th home vs Latvia

October 14^th home vs Luxemborg