Go to Africa flight, accommodation, ticket, T-shirt
Greece continue to defy the odds under wily coach Otto Rehhagel and have clinched qualification for only their second FIFA World Cup™ finals.Though dismissing Rehhagel would have amounted to high treason, given the regal status ‘King Otto’ has enjoyed since victory on Portuguese soil, failure to reach Germany 2006 and a limp group-stage exit at EURO 2008 had ratcheted up the pressure on the German supremo. The Greek FA kept the faith, however, and were rewarded by qualification for their first global finals since USA 1994.
to South Africa
Greece kicked off South Africa 2010 qualifying in impressive fashion, picking up victories over Luxembourg, Latvia and Moldova, scoring eight times and conceding none in the process.
The 2004 European champions subsequently suffered their first loss in Group 2 when going down 2-1 at home to Switzerland, their clearest rivals for an automatic qualifying berth. After bouncing back with four points from their double-header against Israel, drawing 1-1 away and winning 2-1 at home, the Helvetians then undid the Greeks once more – this time triumphing 2-0 on Swiss soil.
Rehhagel’s troops then allowed Switzerland to extend their advantage in the standings by only drawing 1-1 in Moldova, a result that also brought Latvia back into the hunt for second. A thumping 5-2 victory over the latter in Greece’s penultimate group match virtually clinched a play-off spot, however, which was sealed by the final day 2-1 win against Luxembourg.
The European Zone play-off draw pitted captain Georgios Karagounis and Co against Ukraine, opponents who had taken four points from the Greeks in Group 2 of qualifying for Germany 2006. This time around, after a 0-0 draw in Athens, Greece grabbed a 1-0 second-leg success in Donetsk, the decisive goal coming from Dimitrios Salpingidis.
