Scolari aims to end Greece hoodoo
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
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The UEFA EURO 2004™ final is replayed in Dusseldorf on 26 March and Portugal are keen on revenge as Luiz Felipe Scolari seeks a first victory against Greece.
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Greek success
Luiz Felipe Scolari's side lost both the opening and closing games of the finals on home soil four years ago, having drawn a friendly 1-1 in Aveiro in November 2003. When the tournament began, goals from Georgios Karagounis and Angelos Basinas put Greece on the way to victory in Porto despite Cristiano Ronaldo's consolation and Angelos Charisteas was to decide the final in Lisbon on a day when the home fans felt that redemption was in the air.
'Good test'
This time they will meet in neutral ground in Dusseldorf as part of their UEFA EURO 2008™ preparations, Portugal seeking their first win against Greece since 1996. Scolari, whose team lost 3-1 to Italy last month, said: "It will be very nice to face Greece. They are a competitive team as they had an excellent qualifying campaign for UEFA EURO 2008™. It will be a good test for us and I hope it will be an excellent match with the stadium full of Portuguese fans. It's good for us to face the world champions and now the European title holders. We can get a better idea of what state we are in and what we have to improve."