Rehhagel's pledge to players

By Paris Ayiomamitis & Marco Keller

Ahead of Wednesday's friendly against fellow UEFA EURO 2004™ finalists Switzerland in Crete, Greece coach Otto Rehhagel underlined his faith in his players when he promised: "The players that are here in Heraklion will also be in Portugal."

Unbeaten run
Rehhagel, of course, has every reason for faith in the players who have established a 14-match unbeaten run dating back to October 2002, and in the process earned Greece their first appearance at a major finals since the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Staying loyal
His words of assurance will be particularly comforting to goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis. He has lost his place in Panathinaikos FC's starting lineup amid speculation about an end-of-season transfer yet Rehhagel will stay loyal to the man who kept six clean sheets in qualifying.

'Every right to play'
"Nikopolidis played a part in the team's qualification and he has every right to play in Portugal," said the coach. "I don't think his not playing at Panathinaikos has anything to do with his form. As far as I'm concerned he is the national goalkeeper."

Karagounis missing
Rehhagel told the press on Tuesday that he had already decided on his team to face Switzerland but would not reveal it, although few changes are expected from the side which beat Bulgaria last month. One player who is missing is the FC Internazionale midfield player Giorgos Karagounis who has an ankle injury.

No Anastasiou
'King Otto' can still call on nine foreign-based players, including Eintracht Frankfurt's Yiannis Amanatidis. However, he has once again overlooked the claims of AFC Ajax striker Yiannis Anastasiou, despite his impressive displays for the Dutch league leaders.

Inaugural match
This is Greece's last match on home soil prior to the finals in June and it marks a special occasion for Heraklion with the inauguration of the new 28,000-seater Pankritio Stadium, which will serve as a venue for the Olympic football tournament, hosting ten matches this summer.

Room for improvement
Switzerland coach Jakob Kuhn, meanwhile, will hope for an improvement on the 2-1 defeat by Morocco in their last assignment in February. Kuhn is without the injured Murat Yakin, Christoph Spycher, Johann Vogel and Ludovic Magnin in Heraklion but may yet include Benjamin Huggel, despite his absence from training on Monday. Ricardo Cabanas, another doubt, will not play, however, and could require an arthroscopy on his knee problem.

Opportunity to impress
These absences mean an opportunity to impress for several players. AJ Auxerre's Stéphane Grichting is likely to get a chance in central defence, although probably as a substitute, and the same applies to FC Sochaux-Montbéliard's Johann Lonfat in the midfield holding role. FC Zürich attacker Daniel Gygax should replace Cabanas in right midfield.

Goalkeeping dilemma
It remains to be seen, meanwhile, which of Jörg Stiel and Pascal Zuberbühler is chosen to play in goal. Stiel, the captain and first-choice goalkeeper, has lost his place at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach and his attendant loss of confidence leaves Kuhn facing a difficult decision, although he may well give both a run-out.

'Strong opponent'
Switzerland have won five and drawn one of their previous nine meetings with Greece. For Kuhn, this test is significant: "We need to make progress in all aspects of our game and it is very useful to play a strong opponent like the Greeks now."