Greece cast hope to shine

By Vassiliki Papantonopoulou

At the 2004/05 UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals, Greece will be hoping to repeat or better their performances at the U18 events of 1995 and 1999, when they finished third and fourth respectively.

Faltering finales
However, the 1999 tournament marked the last time Greece reached the finals of this particular European Championship as, despite reaching the Elite round in two of the three seasons since the U19 tournament came into existence, they have been unable to take that final step before the current campaign. In 2001/02, Greece bounced back from losing their opening Group 12 game to Slovenia to overcome Scotland and the Faroe Islands and progress to the intermediary round - only to lose 6-2 to Belgium over two legs in the next stage.

Hopes ended
The following season, Greece were awarded a bye to the Elite round, but despite beginning with a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, the campaign was to end in disappointment as losses to Norway and Hungary ended hopes of progress. The 2003/04 crop were also unable to make much of an impact, draws with Belarus and Poland either side of a loss against Wales condemning the team to another qualifying-round exit. The 2004/05 squad will be keen to erase memories of those premature exits this year.

Key players
Greece usually attack with a 4-3-3 formation and defend as 4-3-2-1, but if their opponents field two strikers Nikolaos Nioblias deploys a 3-4-1-2 system, and therefore the ability to act in two or more roles is important for his players. The man who switches from defence to midfield in the latter formation is Euripidis-Grigorios Makos of Panionios NFC, who played in the UEFA Cup last season and has represented Greece at U21 level. His club-mate Ioannis Maniatis is also verstaile, a right-back or winger depending on the situation, and also played top-flight football in 2004/05. Apollon Kalamarias FC's Stylianos Iliadis is another squad member with senior experience and either holds the midfield, acts as playmaker or even flies down the wing - and his talent has seen him become a target for both champions Olympiacos CFP and PAOK FC. He provided both assists in the 2-0 Elite round win against Slovakia. PAOK themselves provide Lazaros Christodopoulos, another multi-talented player who can lead the attack, support a lone forward or act as a left-winger.

UEFA European Under-19 Championship best:
Elite round 2002, 2003

Honours in UEFA youth competitions:
UEFA European Under-16 Championship
Runners-up 1985
UEFA European Under-18 Championship
Third place 1995
Fourth place 1999
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runners-up 1988, 1998

For Greece's Under-19 team page, click here.