GEKAS: GREECE CAN DEFEND TITLE
By Graham Wood, PA S****t, Athens
Greece hat-trick hero Theofanis Gekas says the reigning European Champions
have every right to believe they can repeat their Euro 2004 triumph in
Austria and Switzerland next summer.
The Bayer Leverkusen striker was the star of the show as Greece
overwhelmed
Group C basement boys Malta with a 5-0 victory in Athens on Saturday to
clinch top spot in the section.
And Gekas insists that Otto Rehhagel's team, who had already secured their
berth at next year's finals thanks to a 1-0 win over Turkey last month,
have
no reason to believe they can't defend their title come Euro 2008.
"Why not? We have shown that we have a great group of players and that we
can beat the best teams and I believe that if we play the way we know we
can
then we could do it again," said Gekas after Greece's victory on a
rain-soaked night at the Olympic Stadium.
"It was a great game for us and the hat-trick topped it off for me
personally," Gekas added. "It was a celebration for us today and we really
enjoyed the victory."
Greece were sluggish in the opening exchanges and had evergreen goalkeeper
Antonis Nikopolidis to thank for a great save to deny Andre Schembri.
However, after Gekas slotted in the rebound from Stelios Gian****opoulos'
header for the first half opener, Greece moved up a gear in the second
half.
"It was a heavy pitch because of the rain and we needed time to get
going,"
said Gekas. "But once we scored the first goal and settled down, we found
a
great rhythm, especially in the second half and we played some great
football. It was im****tant to get the three points but to do it in this
way
and score five goals is fantastic for the team."
After having been a peripheral figure at international level in recent
seasons, Gekas is proving his pedigree at the top level. He finished top
scorer for Bochum in the 2006/07 Bundesliga campaign and a summer move to
Leverkusen has propelled him further into the spotlight. "I started out
sitting on the bench during the past couple of years and I have been
trying
to establish myself as a starter," said Gekas. "I hope that my
performances
have shown that I am capable of playing in the starting eleven."
While the currently injured Angelos Charisteas, Greece's goal-hero in the
Euro 2004 final against ****tugal four years ago, remains first choice as
the
central striker Gekas' form could give Rehhagel a major selection dilemma
next summer.
Gekas believes the team has coped well filling the voids left by the likes
of former captain Theo Zagorakis, striker Demis Nikolaidis and midfielder
Vassilis Tsiartas.
"What was im****tant after Euro 2004 was to replace the players who have
left
the squad since then and I think this qualifying campaign has showed that
we
have done that," he said.
"We have a great squad of players now and we feel that we can compete with
the top teams. We have to wait to see what will happen next summer to see
how good we are."
http://www.s****tinglife.com/football/overseas/other/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=international_feed/07/11/17/SOCCER_Gre-Greece_Quotes.html&TEAMHD=foreign
|
