Portugal vs Greece, Dusseldorf, 26/03/08

Current UFWC Champions Greece will play Portugal at the neutral venue of Dusseldorf’s LTU Arena in a friendly match on 26 March. The game will be a replay of the 2004 Euro final – Greece actually defeated Portugal twice during that tournament and, of course, became Euro Champions. Portugal lost 3-1 to Italy last month, and coach Luiz Felipe ‘Big Phil’ Scolari says, ‘It’s good for us to face the world champions and now the European title holders. We can get a better idea of what state we are in and what we have to improve.’

Scolari includes Huelva midfielder Carlos Martins in his squad, while Greek coach Otto Rehhagel recalls Atletico Madrid defender Giuourkas Seitaridis.

Portugal squad: Ricardo Pereira (Real Betis), Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon), Miguel Monteiro (Valencia), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Fernando Meira (VfB Stuttgart), Bruno Alves (Porto), Pepe (Real Madrid), Marco Caneira (Valencia), Raul Meirelos (Porto), Miguel Veloso (Sporting Lisbon), Joao Moutinho (Sporting Lisbon), Jorge Ribeiro (Boavista), Carlos Martins (Recreativo Huelva), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Ricardo Quaresma (Porto), Nuno Gomes (Benfica), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Nani (Manchester United)

Greece (preliminary) squad: Giourkas Seitaridis (Atletico Madrid), Angelos Basinas (Mallorca), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton Wanderers), Georgos Samaras (Celtic), Fanis Gekas (Bayer Leverkusen), Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Eintracht Frankfurt), Giannis Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt), Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg), Costas Katsouranis (Benfica)

Match Previews Greece, Portugal

GREECE 2-1 FINLAND Nicosia, Cyprus, 06/02/2008
Litmanen 66, Charisteas 67, Katsouranis 72

Okay, this is complicated: This match is part of the friendly Cyprus International Tournament, also involving the Czech Republic and Poland. On the previous afternoon, 5 February, a Greece side played a Czech Republic side. This was regarded by both sides as a ‘training camp’ match, and featured many reserve and under-21 players. Crucially, the match was NOT recognised by FIFA as an ‘A’ match and therefore does NOT count as a UFWC title match. 24 hours later, this match against Finland also featured several reserve players, but WAS recognised as a FIFA ‘A’ match. Therefore it WAS a UFWC title match. Phew.

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel hoped to include uncapped 33-year-old Olympiakos midfielder Ieroklis Stoltidis in his line-up. Unfortunately, Stoltidis considered himself too old to make his international debut. ‘I am at an age where I can no longer perform at the required level for both my club and my country,’ he said. Meanwhile, Finland manager Stuart Baxter was helming his first full international.

Greece dominated the match, but the result was never a foregone conclusion. Finland took the lead after 66 minutes through veteran star and new Fulham signing Jari Litmanen. But Greece were level within a minute, with Angelos Charisteas heading in a Giorgos Karagounis free kick. Benfica midfielder Costas Katsouranis won the match with a long-range effort that deceived Finland goalkeeper Peter Enckelman.

Greece retain the title and are now unbeaten in six games. The team’s next scheduled game is a friendly away to Hungary on 24 May, although it is expected that other Euro 2008 warm-up games will be announced.

Greece: Antonis Nikopolidis (Chrisostomos Michailidis, 46), Christos Patsatzoglou (Panagiotis Lagos, 46), Vassilis Torosidis, Angelos Basinas, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Paraskevas Antzas, Costas Katsouranis, Giorgos Karagounis (Nikos Spiropoulos, 70), Ioannis Amanatidis (Dimitris Salpingidis, 46), Angelos Charisteas, Fanis Gekas (Nikos Lymberopoulos, 78).

Finland: Peter Enckelman, Markus Halsti, Mika Vayrynen, Mikael Forssell, Jari Litmanen (Roni Porokara, 70), Juha Pasoja, Ari Nyman (Veli Lampi, 77), Markus Heikkinen, Alexei Eremenko, Jonatan Johansson (Kari Arkivuo, 77), Toni Kallio.

Match Reports Finland, Greece

GREECE vs FINLAND, Nicosia, 08/02/08

Current UFWC Champions Greece will kick off 2008 with a friendly match against Finland on 8 February. Finland have played 13 UFWC matches, but failed to win any of them. Greece are currently ranked 11th in the world by FIFA, one place ahead of England. Finland are ranked 37th, one place behind the Republic of Ireland. Finland are unbeaten in eight games, five of which were 0-0 draws. Finland captain Jari Litmanen is currently on trial at Fulham. Can Greece extend their three match reign as champions, or will Finland take the title for the first time? Full coverage at www.ufwc.co.uk.

Match Previews Finland, Greece

HUNGARY 1-2 GREECE Budapest, 21/11/07
Buzsaky 7, Vanczak 22 (og), Basinas 59 (pen)

Greece came from behind to retain the UFWC title in this final Euro 2008 Qualifier. The reigning European Champions had already qualified for the tournament, and will now go through as a number one seed.

An experimental Greek side started poorly, and Hungary scored after seven minutes through Akos Buzsaky’s deflected shot. But the Magyars pressed the self-destruct button on 22 minutes, when a back-header from defender Vilmos Vanczak eluded out-of-position keeper Marton Fulop and ended up in the net.

Otto Rehhagel re-organised his team, and Greece were much improved in the second half. On 59 minutes, Bayer Leverkusen star Fanis Gekas was fouled by Fulop and won a penalty, which was converted by Angelos Basinas. Greece held on to win 2-1.
Formidable Greece are now unbeaten in five games, and will go into Euro 2008 with a genuine chance of retaining their trophy. The next UFWC title match is still to be announced.

Match Reports Greece, Hungary