Group B: South Korea v Greece

[Željko Jurin]

hey baggio

2 words.....

north korea 1966........

World Cup 2006, plus the other 3 they got

[MegaBonus]

thats more than 2 words!!!!!!!!

[MegaBonus]

plus

every one of their world cups victories have been tainted.....

1934 & 38 - argentinians play for italy (known as the oriundi)
1982 - paolo rossi's match fixing ban cut short so tha he can play in the WC
2006 - grosso V aust & grosso v zidane - no need to say much here










the above has been written with tongue firmly planted in cheek

[pingers]

I'm actually impressed by the korean football. Very attackingly sound and their technique shits all over the greeks. So very dissapointing with the lads =(

Very much agree with an earlier comment about their midfield 'CBF' chasing back. team morale looks shit too, internal bickering possibly? The goalkeeper/defender incident after a near miss for Korea looked a little agressive...could just be the greek culture though

[Željko Jurin]

thats more than 2 words!!!!!!!!

And yours had 4 numbers

[Željko Jurin]

plus

every one of their world cups victories have been tainted.....

1934 & 38 - argentinians play for italy (known as the oriundi)
1982 - paolo rossi's match fixing ban cut short so tha he can play in the WC
2006 - grosso V aust & grosso v zidane - no need to say much here

Materazzi

Were you that teacher that "rigged" the Naplan tests, because you would have made it worse ??

[MegaBonus]

yeah...him too................tping faster than thinking.....

[Loppermann]

the Greeks were really really bad, South Korea probably should have won 5-0
makes you wonder why Europe has so many qualifying spots

[bapa]

Interesting fact
Greece has played 4 games in the world cup finals
scored 0
conceeded 12

WTF????

Tbh, Greece looked very ordinary. The midfielders never chased back. The Koreans always had more players when they attacked as opposed to the greeks!
Korea looked awesome when they attacked. No 10 for them had a great game!

[Judge Judy]

lol greece

[Mr Magoo]

Interesting fact
Greece has played 4 games in the world cup finals
scored 0
conceeded 12

Another interesting fact
New Zealand has played three games in the World Cup finals
scored 2
conceeded 12

Who, then, is luckier to be there?

[Loppermann]

Interesting fact
Greece has played 4 games in the world cup finals
scored 0
conceeded 12

WTF????

Tbh, Greece looked very ordinary. The midfielders never chased back. The Koreans always had more players when they attacked as opposed to the greeks!
Korea looked awesome when they attacked. No 10 for them had a great game!

Park Chu Young?
normal game for him, enormous talent
will be better than Park Ji-Sung

[The Kop]

DISGRACE.
What a senile old c*nt.
He's lost the plot 100%, Greece will out do the 0-0-3 0-10 from USA94.
Expect at least 3 from Nigeria and if its only 6 from Argentina i'd be thanking my lucky stars. This article although non the best written, hits the nail squarly on the head:

Greece 0-2 South Korea: The Truth, The Fallout, The Pain

June 13th, 2010 | by: Chris Paraskevas

And so the post-mortem begins. Where to start? The decision to start our fourth and fifth-choice centre-backs? The decision to replace our captain and play-maker with a defensive midfielder? The conspicuous apathy of the 11 men tasked with re-writing the World Cup history of an entire nation? Kostas Katsouranis? Loukas Vyntra? Otto Rehhagel?

The truth

A well-informed source close to the Greek side has revealed the truth about what happened before the kick-off to the match. Unsurprisingly there was a dressing-room division after players heard the news that Sotiris Kyrgiakos wouldn’t be starting, with players either taking the side or not of Otto Rehhagel. Kyrgiakos was angry. Rehhagel was angry. It translated on the field and explains why Greek fans were forced to check and double-check a formation that flashed on millions of television screens around the world without the name of the talisman defender from Liverpool. I could have guessed as much considering the centre-back wasn’t a legitimate injury worry before the match and by the opening stanza of play that showed Tzorvas and Vyntra in a close-up in argument, an image that must have had a neo-Pavlovian effect on the USA ‘94 generation.

Karagounis displeasure

Giorgios Karagounis’ recent comments about Rehhagel in the aftermath of the match suggested a dressing room dispute. Of all the times during the German manager’s reign for personality clashes in the side, eh? Karagounis will apparently speak about his manager’s decisions after the tournament. It’ll be interesting to have a player perspective with Rehhagel surely headed for an exit from his post (given he’s lost the dressing room).

Otto Rehhagel

Whilst there can be no excuse for the lack of passion shown by the players on the pitch and the general embarrassment they’ve forced upon millions of their fans around the world, Rehhagel’s decision not to start Kyrgiakos stands as one of the most bizarre and inexplicable of his reign. He’s divided opinion in the past as a result of his tactics and personnel choices, though he’s generally been justified by a limited talent pool and his stubborn stance when it comes to playing to his side’s strengths. Yet even for an individual such as myself who has defended such selections in the past, the decision to omit Kyrgiakos perhaps represents the last straw in his reign.

Dimitris Salpingidis’ place on the bench similarly has no logic given we were playing a formation that was characterized by width; the sight of Georgios Samaras marooned on the left-touchline instead of in-behind the two strikers – where he has produced his best performances for the national team – was painful at best. Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ exclusion as well was inexplicable but the central defensive combination of error-prone Avraam Papadopoulos and Loukas Vyntra (who should never again wear a national team jersey) had consigned the team to defeat before a ball had been kicked, as I explained in my living room to visiting non-Greeks pointing out in glee just how poor we were. I’m sure it’s a familiar feeling for quite a few of you out there…


What does this mean?

The aforementioned source went on to suggest that the Greeks will be sent home packing, with seemingly no hope of a recovery ahead of the Nigeria game in a few days time. A shame considering the Africans represent a vulnerable target, as did Korea (who were made to look particularly good by the Greeks). Without even thinking about what would be a miraculous qualification from the group stages, it seems the best we fans can hope for is the nation’s first goal at a World Cup – something, something, to celebrate during what could be a particularly painful end to this tournament.

Beyond the World Cup this will surely mark the end of Rehhagel’s reign, assuming the majority of the dressing room are against him. The biggest strength of this side under the German has always been their unity and team ethic. Without it they cease to be the Greece that my generation of fans has been fortunate enough to become accustomed to.

Sotiris Ninis

If nothing else, fans of the Ethniki will be hoping for at least a glimpse of Sotiris Ninis before the end of the tournament. Quite frankly, to deny the prodigy a chance to strut his stuff on the world stage with such an opportunity – and now, seemingly, with no pressure considering we’ve tossed away any chance we might have had of making the knockout stages – would be a travesty almost as great as not using Kyrgiakos.

What do we need?

A goal, Loukas Vyntra sent back to Greece, Dimitris Salpingidis in the starting line-up, the retirement of Angelos Charisteas, Kostas Katsouranis sent back to Greece, Sotiris Kyrgiakos in the starting line-up, prayers and the players to realize that this tournament will probably be how they’ll be remembered after their careers are finished.

The quotes

“Karagounis never got the hang of the play. He was never agile enough and it didn’t work out for him. I always act swiftly when I see a change is required. It’s my job to do that as a coach.” – Rehhagel on replacing his captain at half-time (with Christos Patsatzoglou, perennially injured defensive midfielder who struggled for game time in Cyprus this season).

“You’ve got 18 people in the penalty area and there is a hard-hit cross, anything can happen if the defender doesn’t head away the ball properly. We really have to get our act together.” – Rehhagel on the manner in which the first goal was conceded.

“Every player who gets substituted has got the right to feel sorrow. As soon as the World Cup ends, I will speak about Rehhagel and his choices. Having said that, everyone is entitled to a bad day in the office, both the players and the coach.” – Karagounis on being replaced.