Greeks out to prove scoring goals no myth
PORT ELIZABETH, June 13 (Reuters) - Talk of wins and goals remains the stuff of myths for Greece and they now face a Herculean task to make further progress in the World Cup.
Greece's goal in South Africa remains reaching the second round but first they will have to find a way to score one - something they have not done in two World Cups following a confidence sapping 2-0 loss to South Korea on Saturday.
Blanked in all three matches they played at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, the Greeks have finally returned to soccer's biggest stage in South Africa.
African giants Nigeria are their next opponents in Bloemfontein on Thursday while their final Group B challenge is provided by Argentina and world player of the year Lionel Messi in Polokwane on June 22.
Greek supporters already calling for the head of German coach Otto Rehhagel, the man who led the team to an unlikely victory at the 2004 European championships.
While Greece could not handle the pace of the speedy South Koreans they will face a much different challenge when they face the big, powerful Nigerians on Thursday.
"In our next match we have to improve, be brave and courageous when we get out there on the field again," Rehhagel told reporters.
"We've got to analyse the match carefully and then we'll try to improve in a very sober manner and a very factual manner and learn our lessons.
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"But we're heading up against the strongest teams here and if we are not concentrated in the set pieces as we were today it may already be a goal against."
Rehhagel is likely to make several changes ahead of the Nigeria clash adding some muscle to his lineup with centre back Socratis Papastathopoulos and Sotiris Kyrgiakos, a rugged defender who can come forward providing a bigger obstacle for the Nigerians, who will also be desperate for a win following their opening loss to Argentina.
"We still have two games left," said Papastathopoulos. "We absolutely need to win the next one.
"The whole team made mistakes (against Korea).
"We had many opportunities to score, but we let them score twice against us. But that's football for you."