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Greece
were disappointing in their 2-0 loss to South Korea, but they say they
are ready to put that embarrassing defeat behind them ahead of
Thursday’s match against the Super Eagles who they believe they are
capable of beating.

According to
striker, Dimitris Salpingidis, they have the quality to bounce back
from their opening defeat and stay alive in South Africa. “We have
quality, and we’re not out of the tournament yet.

There’s still two
games to play. We still have dreams and we’ll do our best to make them
continue,” said the Panathinaikos star. “Like us, Nigeria lost their
opening match. They’re a very good team, very physical, strong and
fast, a quality outfit. Nigeria work well as a team and created chances
against Argentina. They’re very good when they play the ball in attack.
But we have also shown in recent years that in big matches we have a
compact defence with a quick counter-attack, that’s the way we play.”

Overcoming the jinx

If the Greeks
defeat the Super Eagles, it will be their first ever win at the World
Cup, even though they also remain in search of their first World Cup
goal having failed to hit the back of the net at their only other World
cup appearance back in 1994 when they scored none and conceded 10,
including two to the Super Eagles.

The team’s coach,
Otto Rehhagel, faced rare criticism from the Greek media after
Saturday’s loss but Salpingidis down played those criticism, saying:
“Statistics are for the media. On the pitch you don’t think about past
results, but in every match you try to win. We’re playing in the
greatest tournament in the world. We’re trying to be happy and enjoy
the competition and give the fans something to cheer about.”

His teammate,
Vassilis Torosidis, however played down the prospect of his country’s
revival at the World Cup, saying a “transformation” ahead of the key
match against Nigeria is not possible. The 25-year-old Torosidis said
the defence-minded Greeks will redouble their efforts for Thursday’s
encounter at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein but are unlikely to
undergo any radical change.

“To be honest, there can be no transformation in five days, not for
any team,” the defender said. “What we need to be is very stubborn and
to show this on the pitch. Even if we don’t win, we won’t be
disappointed as long as we play well.”