Discipline is key, says Rehhagel

By Paris Ayiomamitis

Coach Otto Rehhagel has cited discipline as the key factor to Greece's prospects of success at UEFA EURO 2004™.

Press conference
The Greece squad arrive in Portugal on 7 June and face the host nation in the tournament's opening match five days later. Today, at their final press conference on home soil, Rehhagel told journalists that: "The key word is discipline."

'No mistakes'
Rehhagel, who was flanked by Hellenic Football Federation president Vassilios Gagatsis, said: "We will play against excellent teams [Spain and Russia are their other Group A opponents] and if we are to have hope we must not repeat the mistakes we made against the Netherlands in the second half."

Emotional intelligence
The German coach was referring to the 4-0 defeat in the Netherlands last month, where they conceded four second-half goals as their 15-match unbeaten run ended. He added: "It is important for us to have emotional intelligence."

AEK dispute
One recent concern in Greece has been the public dispute between the Greek internationals at AEK Athens FC and striker Themistoklis Nikolaidis, their international colleague, who has been part of a consortium trying to buy his former club.

'We are united'
The AEK players last week refused to back the consortium's plan to rescue the club, reportedly €100m in debt, and were subsequently confronted by angry supporters at their training ground. However, Rehhagel was confident that this dispute would not affect the spirit within the camp. "We will talk about it," he said. "I'm sure there will be no problem. We are united. When we play Portugal no one will care about [the] matter."

Two more matches
Greece play two more away warm-up matches before the finals, against Poland on 29 May and Liechtenstein on 3 June.