Rehhagel hopes for a miracle

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has admitted that his side will need "a miracle" to beat France in Friday's quarter-final.

Miracle men
However the German coach insisted that he and his side were looking forward to the challenge of pitting their wits against the reigning European champions. "There is always some anxiety to play against such a team but it's good to play with great players like [Zinedine] Zidane," he said. "We'll need a miracle to get past them."

Resilient defence
Greece finished second to tournament hosts Portugal in Group A thanks to a resilient defence and a disciplined game, but while nerves may be jangling as kick-off against France approaches, Rehhagel said that he was not sorry to be meeting Jacques Santini's side. "I don't care who our opponents are," he said. "We just wanted to get through."

French strengths
Attacking midfielder Vassilios Tsiartas added: "The match against France will be difficult. The French players have been together for some time and know each other well. They also have some world-class players like Zidane, [Thierry] Henry and [Robert] Pires."

Greek chances
However, for all of the obstacles in his team-mates' way, Tsiartas was not willing to rule out a Greece victory. "The game is not out of our reach as long as we avoid mistakes," he said. "But we are happy none the less that we qualified."

Midfield casualties
Rehhagel will welcome back midfield players Stylianos Giannakopoulos and Giorgos Karagaounis, who missed Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Russia at the Estádio Algarve - a result that ended a run of eight competitive matches without defeat. Giannakopoulos is on course to recover from a calf injury while Karagounis has served a one-match suspension.

Vryzas suspended
With their return, Rehhagel is expected to revert to a 4-4-2 formation after fielding three strikers in the match against Russia. Greece, however, will be without striker Zisis Vryzas who collected his second yellow card of the tournament on Sunday.