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Malta vs Greece Match Preview

The qualifier at the Ta’Qali National Stadium is a crucial one from the Greeks’ perspective as a victory could see Fernando Santos’ side leapfrog Croatia for first place in the section. Currently, Greece are second place in Group F with 8 points from 4 matches, while Croatia lead the group with 10 points. Malta will be seeking their first points of EURO 2012 qualifying having lost all four matches they have played thus far.

Greece have virtually no injury worries heading into this match as Santos can select from a full squad of players. The only issues are in the form of long-term absences for Alexandros Tziolis and more recently first-choice goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis, both of whom were not fit enough to make the squad.

The mood within the Greek camp seems positive; however the squad members appear to be focused on the upcoming game knowing the potential banana-skin they face in a match they are expected to win handily. Santos reiterated the importance of this type of game earlier this week by saying “if a team wants to go to a tournament like EURO 2012 then it has to win matches like this.” Santos continued by saying that all that mattered was the three points and even a win by “a half-goal to nil” would be sufficient.

Santos will be keen to continue his fine start with the national team which has seen him go undefeated since his appointment last August. The Greeks recently defeated Canada 1-0 in a February friendly and are on track in their EURO 2012 qualifying campaign after a shaky start. Against Malta, Santos looks set to utilize his favored 4-2-3-1 formation and has seemingly settled on a starting eleven.

Alexandros Tzorvas appears to have beaten out Kostas Chalkias for a place in goal while Avraam Papadopoulos and Sokratis Papastathopoulos will renew their partnership in central defense supported by fullbacks Giorgos Tzavellas (left) and Vasilis Torosidis (right). Panathinaikos’ Kostas Katsouranis and Giorgos Karagounis will be the duo in the center of the park with Sotiris Ninis on the right and Georgios Samaras operating on the left flank. Dimitris Salpingidis will be the lone frontman, with Nikos Lymberopoulos tucking in behind him in a supporting role.

Malta meanwhile may have lost all four of their qualifying matches to date and be the big underdogs for this qualifier, however John Buttigieg’s team have reason to enter this match with confidence. For starters, the national side are coming off a superb result, a 0-0 draw against Switzerland in February.

Also something that will give Maltese supporters hope is the team’s decent historical record against Greece. In matches played in Malta, Greece have won only one of four meetings since the two teams’ first match in 1970. And even that latest victory, a EURO 2008 qualifier, came in difficult fashion with Greece needing a penalty-kick by Angelos Basinas to take home a 1-0 win.

There is even talk of an upset within the Malta camp as evidenced by captain Michael Mifsud’s comments earlier this week, “Greece have a glorious record in the European Championship, but I do believe that if we get out there and play with a big heart we can get a very good result.”

In a press conference this week, manager Buttigieg expressed his belief that his side were ready for the task facing them against a Greek team he described as one of the favorites to qualify for EURO 2012. The good news for Malta is that they too will be able to select from a full squad with Roderick Briffa overcoming recent injury to be declared fully fit.

Greece are the big favorites to claim the three points in this one, however they will know that they have tripped up against Malta before and will have to put in a good performance over the 90 minutes to win the match and keep pace with Group F leaders Croatia.

Malta vs Greece Match Report

A stubborn defensive display by the hosts almost saw Malta, ranked 163rd in the FIFA Rankings, earn a hard-fought point against the Greeks, but late intervention by Torosidis who headed home with the last kick of the game four minutes into injury time saw Greece escape the Ta’Qali National Stadium with a 1-0 victory.

The win put Fernando Santos’ team atop Group F in EURO 2012 qualifying as Greece have amassed 11 points from five matches in the section. The Greeks took advantage of a Croatia defeat to Georgia earlier in the day meaning that Greece now are the pace-setters in the group halfway through the campaign.

Malta showed their intentions to cause an upset early on. John Buttigieg’s side displayed fine organization in the opening 45 minutes as Greece barely threatened in the first half. All that Santos’ charges had to show for their efforts was a couple of half-chances that were handled quite comfortably by Maltese goalkeeper Justin Haber.

Santos’ teamtalk at halftime must have had the desired effect as Greece appeared to be a totally rejuvenated outfit after the break. The team were suddenly attacking with more creativity and verve and it was no surprise that Haber was called into action to save efforts from Dimitris Salpingidis and Torosidis in a superb ten minute spell after the break by the away side that also featured a Nikos Lymberopoulos header that came back off the post.

Still, Greece could not find a breakthrough and though Santos attempted to mix it up by throwing on three offensive-minded players in Yiannis Fetfatzidis, Kostas Mitroglou, and Panagiotis Kone, Malta were holding firm at the back riding the impressive display of Haber and putting forth a committed defensive performance.

When AC Milan’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos was sent off in the 84th minute with a straight red card for a tackle on Daniel Bogdanovic it appeared like an upset was in the making. However even though Haber saved a fine header by Mitroglou late on, the Greeks saved the best for last. From a Giorgos Karagounis free-kick, Torosidis nodded in a close range header after Mitroglou had latched onto a clearance and Greece found an improbable winner in dramatic circumstances.

The result puts Greece in the driver’s seat in Group F and with the prospect of a home match against Croatia still to come, Santos’ team are now the favorites to qualify for EURO 2012. Malta meanwhile were extremely unlucky not to have claimed their first point of the campaign as they have now lost their fifth match in a row in Group F play, though they have proven to be a much-improved side under manager Buttigieg.

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  Match-day 5 of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign goes in favour of Greece. It’s down to them to make the most of their Malta game and hope that Georgia vs Croatia go their way.

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