Germany vs. Greece Preview

Germany go into their Euro 2012 quarter-final clash with Greece in Gdansk on Friday June 22 as narrow tournament favourites after claiming maximum points in the ‘Group of Death’.

And Joachim Loew’s side will be widely expected to saunter through to the semis against the 2004 champions pending a similar level of performance to what they have demonstrated already during wins over Portugal, Holland and Denmark.

Nevertheless, Loew will be taking nothing for granted as the Greeks proved eight years ago that they can never be written off.

It looked for all money as if Fernando Santos’ men would exit the championship early this time around, following an opening day draw with co-hosts Poland and a dismal defeat to the Czech Republic – during which they fell two goals behind within the first five minutes.

But once again, Greece managed to cause a massive surprise and spearheaded by veteran captain and 2004 hero Giorgos Karagounis, they turned Russia over 1-0 in the final group fixture to progress at their expense.

Greece will, however, face a massive hike in quality when they take on the Germans after narrowly qualifying from what was arguably the weakest group.

Germany, meanwhile, have already been tested against a couple of Europe’s biggest nations and will be brimming with confidence after passing with flying colours.

And whilst Germany always appeared in control throughout the group stage, it seemed as if they just did enough and there is still a lot more to come.

Bad news for the rest of Europe then, perhaps, and it is Greece who must now attempt to halt the rapid progress of Joachim Loew’s charges.

Some may expect a landslide in this one but seldom do the Germans exert themselves enough to put a torrent of goals past any opponent.

Once again, they are likely to try control possession and the tempo of the game, scoring at the right moments to put the contest beyond the effective reach of their unfancied rivals.

Greece will probably feel that they have already exceeded pre-tournament expectations and should give things a real good go in Gdansk with no real pressure or anything to lose.

And it’s fair to say that current issues outside of football could well spur them on against Germany who will be hoping the contest is put to bed before half time.

All in all, it is difficult to see past the Germans progressing as they do look like a team well capable of lifting the trophy outright.

But a best price of 4/11 does little to whet the appetite of backers and there is always a chance that things may not fall into place in order for Germany to mark their superiority within the ninety minutes.

With this in mind, it is perhaps best to focus on a likely score line and a 2-0 result for Germany seems to fit best taking into account their style and how they usually go about their business against nations like Greece who defend deep and rely on physicality.

6/1 about that particular outcome definitely makes appeal – and with three goals to his name already, Mario Gomez looks the natural pick to net first at around 7/2.

Go To bet365

#Ad

21/06/2012     © Frixo 2024