World Cup Qualifying Preview: Greece - Ukraine

Greece will lock horns with Ukraine in Athens on Saturday night in the first leg of their World Cup play-off tie...

Nov 13, 2009 7:28:08 PM

WCQ: Greece v Luxembourg (INTIME)
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WCQ: Greece v Luxembourg (INTIME)
Kick off: Saturday, November 14, 8:00 PM, Athens, Greece

Road to Redemption

The main goal might be a ticket to South Africa, but the Greeks will be keen to redeem themselves after finishing second-best to Group 2 rivals Switzerland to miss the cut for an automatic berth.

Without a World Cup appearance since their maiden participation in 1994, Greece will be looking to end a long wait for a second appearance on international football’s grandest stage.

In fact, it was Ukraine that prematurely ruled Greece out of a spot at the 2006 Finals in Germany. A late goal from Andriy Gusin sentenced Greece to another summer without international football, while Ukraine clinched a berth for a major tournament for the first time.

Although revenge won’t be the inspiration, the bitter loss at the Giorgos Karaiskakis Stadium likely lingers in the minds of the Greek players; that is for those who remain the line-up after coach Otto Rehhagel surprisingly opted to include youngsters Konstantinos Mitroglou and Vasilis Koutsianikoulis in the roster.

A move that the Greek population sees as being overdue for quite some time now injects youth into an aging Greek team. Greece’s best hopes for success might lie on the shoulders of striker Theofanis Gekas who notched ten goals during the preliminary round – the most recorded in Europe this time around.

Ukrainian Mission

Beating out Croatia to second spot in Group 6, Ukraine clinched a spot in the play-offs as they finished second behind England. Hitting form late in their campaign – a run that included a 1-0 victory over England – Ukraine head into the play-offs with plenty of confidence.

With previous meetings going in Ukraine’s favour all but once, Alexei Mikhailichenko’s men will be keen to reproduce past results. The Ukrainians have suffered only one loss against Greece, and will look to restrict the Greek attack on Saturday.

An away goal would be crucial for the visitors as the replay in Donetsk on Wednesday is slated to be a demonstration of the impacts of the circulating H1N1 virus.

Andriy Shevchenko, the side’s most prolific scorer, will look to deliver as Ukraine look to hand Greece their first loss at home this year. However, past play-off experiences don’t bode well for Ukraine, but they’ll be keen to put an end to the voodoo that has kept them from qualifying on three previous occasions.

FORM GUIDE

Greece

October 14 v Luxembourg (H) WON 2-1 (World Cup Qualifying)

October 10 v Latvia (H) WON 5-2 (World Cup Qualifying)

September 9 v Moldova (A) DREW 1-1 (World Cup Qualifying)

September 5 v Switzerland (A) LOST 2-0 (World Cup Qualifying)

August 12 v Poland (A) LOST 2-0 (World Cup Qualifying)

Ukraine

October 14 v Andorra (A) WON 6-0 (World Cup Qualifying)

October 10 v England (H) WON 1-0 (World Cup Qualifying)

September 9 v Belarus (A) DREW 0-0 (World Cup Qualifying)

September 5 Andorra (H) WON 5-0 (World Cup Qualifying)

August 12 v Turkey (H) LOST 3-0 (World Cup Qualifying)

TEAM NEWS

Greece

The Greek roster continues to deal with a long line of injuries as Vasilis Torosidis, Christos Patsatzoglou, Giourkas Seitaridis, and Ioannis Amanatidis are all out of contention. On the bright side, however, Liverpool defender Sotiris Kyrgiakos is expected to return to the line-up after having limped off in his side’s 2-1 win over Luxembourg last month.

Possible Starting XI: Chalkias, Vyntra, Kyrgiakos, A. Papadopoulos, Spiropoulos, Tziolis, Katsouranis, Karagounis, Salpingidis, Gekas, Samaras.

Ukraine

Only Serhiy Nazarenko is out for Ukraine as the visitors look to be in a strong position to bag a good result on the road.

Possible Starting XI: Pyatov, Mykhalyk, Kucher, Kobin, Khacheridi, Rakitskiy, Tymoschuk, Gusev, Yarmolenko, Shevchenko, Milevskiy

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Theofanis Gekas (Greece)

With his future at Bayer Leverkusen uncertain, Gekas has not let his failure to earn playing time on the club level deter him from success on the international front. With a four-goal performance against Latvia last month ranking high on his list of achievements, the potent striker will have to exploit the Ukrainian defence if Greece are to qualify.

Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)

The most capped player and highest scorer for the Ukrainian national team, Andriy Shevchenko will look to add to his tally as Ukraine bid to reach next summer’s showpiece. The Dinamo Kyiv striker has featured in his club’s UEFA Champions League campaign, but the ultimate test comes Saturday night in Athens.

PREDICTION

It will be a hard-fought battle between these two European nations, but the Greeks should ultimately prevail thanks to the luxury of the home crowd at OAKA. Although support has been sparse for recent fixtures in the Greek capital, a supportive turnout is expected. Thus, the Greeks will be keen to give a strong showing as the national team looks to recover any lost pride. 

Greece 1-0 Ukraine

Peter Katsiris, Goal.com
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