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Karagounis glad to be Portugal's nemesis
By Vassiliki Papantonopoulou & Hugo Pietra from Athens & Lisbon
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Greece celebrate one of their two goals in Dusseldorf
(¿AFP)
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Greece midfielder Georgios Karagounis was thrilled
after his two set-pieces earned the European champions a 2-1 win against
Portugal on Wednesday, saying: "I don't get to take them at Panathinaikos
[FC]."
Portuguese absentees
Greece have now gone five games without defeat against the Portuguese,
and denied their opponents the chance to avenge defeat in the final of
UEFA EURO 2004T. Otto Rehhagel's men won that match 1-0, and they seemed
on course for an even better result in Dusseldorf after Karagounis had
hit the target twice with free-kicks, but Nuno Gomes pulled a goal back
for Luiz Felipe Scolari's side, who were without Manchester United FC
stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani as well as Deco.
Free-kick duties
"The Portuguese have beaten Brazil twice recently and that shows
you what a good team they are," said Karagounis. "We're looking
forward to having a good time at EURO 2008T." Having scored his first
international goals since March 2005, the former SL Benfica player also
hinted that he ought to be trusted with set-piece duties at club level:
"I'm allowed to take the free-kicks with the national team. I don't
get to take them at Panathinaikos."
Ex-pat crowd
Fellow midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos was similarly encouraged by the
performance in Germany, saying: "A friendly victory is always important
for the team's morale. We're a well-organised team and we work for each
other. Our coach will have a tough task picking a team from what could
be the best Greece squad ever. Hopefully, we made the Greeks of Germany
happy tonight."
Core personnel
Pleased with the win, victorious tactician Rehhagel added: "This
test led us to some important conclusions ahead of our opening match at
UEFA EURO 2008T. We're testing our squad. I hope no injuries affect our
preparations for the finals in June. These players plus [injured defender]
Traianos Dellas make up our team, but they'll have to give it their all
during our preparations to make it to the final list."
Calm assessment
His counterpart Scolari pointed to Portugal's absentees, meanwhile, and
was keen to look for positives. "I think one or two players earned
their place at the EURO," he said. 'Which ones? That's between me
and my technical staff. Greece were the better team tonight as they were
extremely efficient at scoring goals. Both teams had more or less the
same ball possession but the match was decided by two free-kicks."
Greek vintage
Portugal goalscorer Nuno Gomes was also gracious in defeat. "We couldn't
handle Greece in the first half,' he said. "They're a very experienced
team, with a number of veteran players who know how to control a game.
They were lucky to score from a free-kick, and did exactly the same thing
in the second half. We didn't play the match we wanted to, but we have
to look forward and focus on the EURO."
Euro2008.uefa.com,
27 March 2008
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