According to the national coach of Greece, Fernando Santos, players’experience will be the most decisive factor in order for the Greek team to overcome Romania’s obstacle and progress to the 2014 Brazil World Cup final stage. The Portuguese coach of the Greek national team expects his most experienced players, like Fanis Gekas, Kostas Katsouranis and Giorgos Karagounis, to perform well and help their younger teammates cope with the pressure and the difficulties of the upcoming first leg match against Romania on Friday and get a positive result.
Santos’ team failed to qualify directly for the world cup that will be hosted this summer in Brazil, even though they recorded an impressive eight win record in their ten group matches. The Greek side came second in Group G behind Bosnia due to goal difference. As a result the Greek national team is in the World Cup Playoffs and in order to qualify must come out the winner of a two leg battle against the Romanian national team. Romania came second in their group behind Netherlands. Romania is one breath away from qualifying for the upcoming World Cup.This is a great challenge for Victor Piturca’s side as they have failed to qualify for the World Cup since 1998. Many Romanian Internationals see this game as the greatest challenge of their career and believe that they have what it takes to eliminate Santos’ side.
The Greek national team has former experience in playoff matches, as the Greek side managed to see off Ukraine in the 2010 World Cup Playoffs for the 2010 world cup. Many Greek International players believe that their former experience in such games could be an advantage for Friday’s clash against Romania. The important thing for Greece is to win the first leg without conceding a goal, and Fernando Santos has faith to his players to do just that. Greece’s manager has all the internationals at his disposal as there are not any injured or suspended players. That gives him a pleasant selection “headache” over the startup eleven for the upcoming crucial fixture.
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