Friday 22nd June
Kick Off: 7-45pm
Fifa Rankings:
Germany 3
Greece 15
The tournament's second quarter final provides us with a David vs Goliath showdown. On Friday night in Gdansk, European and world heavyweights Germany take on minnows Greece for a place in the semi final. Greece will be looking to emulate their Euro 2004 campaign where they upset the odds and went all the way to glory.
Road to the Quarters:
The Greeks come into the game with a reputation for being a low scoring side, this is shown by the fact that in the finals, they have scored just one goal a game. Their Euro 2012 campaign started with a 1-1 draw with co-hosts Poland, in what was a dramatic opening game. After going a goal down, and losing a man to a somewhat harsh red card (Sokratis Papastathopoulos was booked twice for two soft challenges) Salpingidis fired in the equaliser after the restart before he was brought down by keeper Szczesny, who was shown a straight red. Later in the half, Karagounis's penalty was saved by substitute Tyton. A slow start in their second game saw the Greeks surrender to the Czech Republic, after conceding two goals in the first six minutes they left themselves with far too much to do. Their final game was a hard fought 1-0 win over Russia, who, after their first game, we're beginning to be tipped as outsiders. This was mainly due to people being under the assumption that they'd progress from their group following their performances in their first two games. Nonetheless the Greeks went ahead through stalwart Karagounis, and held on to seal their place in the last eight.
The Germans have had a strong set of group games that has seen them stand out as favourites to win the tournament overall. Their first game was a workmanlike 1-0 win over Portugal. A single goal from Mario Gomez was enough to help Joachim Low's men get off to a flying start in what was dubbed 'The Group of Death'. It was the same man who helped seal another three points when they met Holland a few days later. Gomez helped himself to a brace in a 2-1 victory over the Dutch as Germany left their bitter rivals on the verge of going home early. The final group game saw another win by the same scoreline. It was a little more tense affair for Germany, who were pushed to the limit by an impressive Danish outfit. Podolski had put them ahead, before Krohn-Delhi drew Denmark level six minutes later. With ten minutes to go Lars Bender was able to poke the ball home to send the Germans through to the quarter finals.
Ones to Watch:
Karagounis - Greece
Gomez - Germany
Odds:
Greece 8/1
Germany 4/11
Prediction:
As much as everyone loves an upset, its hard to see past Germany progressing to the semi finals. The Germans have taken the lead in all three matches at Euro 2012, going on to win all of those games and have never lost a European Championship quarter final.
Germany 3-0 Greece
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Comments
Gomez to score anytime ( Evens PaddyPower )
Last Goalscorer - Klose ( 11-2 Betfair )
Ever so true?
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!
hope greece make them pay.
Let's be honest, his "reserves" are not exactly bad players to be bringing in are they (...I mean Klose fer gawds sake!) and maybe he wants to give them an opportunity to stake a claim for a start.
How many references to the Euro crisis do you think we'll have to endure tonight ?
Now watch Germany unleash Gomez/podolski/muller