Few people would have backed Greece to come out of a group which included co-hosts Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia, but the 2004 European champions proved that they are hard nuts to crack, and despite coming into their final group game against Russia with a mere point, the Greeks put on a brilliant display as they reached the quarter-finals at the expense of the much-fancied Russians.
Up next for Greece in an extremely difficult quarter-final against Germany, the only team who remain with a perfect record in the competition thus far, after having downed Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark as they won Group B in fashionable style.
There's no doubt as to which of the two sides are expected to proceed onto the semi-finals, as while Greece have only managed to sneak into the last eight, rivals Germany have reached this instance rather emphatically. But after the fighting spirit they have demonstrated in the competition so far, it would be wrong to discard the Greeks from beating Germany and possibly continuing their progress in the competition?
At a first glance, it seems rather unlikely for Greece to upset the Germans, not only because of how both teams have been playing in the competition, but because Germany contain a star-studded squad who know exactly how to beat their opponents. Germany are extremely solid in all areas of the field, whether you look at their defence, midfield or attack, and what makes them so strong is their winning mentality. Furthermore, Joachim Low's side have a wealth of experience under their belts, as great part of their squad participated in the 2010 World Cup, when the Germans earned third place.
Greece, on the other hand, were eliminated from the World Cup at the group stage, but seem to have improved significantly over these last couple of years. Despite coming into the quarter-finals as the clear underdogs, Greece have something that few teams have: a hunger to succeed no matter the circumstances. They perhaps have one of the weakest squads of the eight teams still remaining in the competition, but as they demonstrated in Euro 2004 when they went all the way to win the title despite the unfavourable odds, they shouldn't be taken lightly by anybody.
One major setback which Greece face is the fact that they will be unable to count with the services of Euro 2004 winner Giorgos Karagounis, who is suspended for the game after receiving another yellow card in the victory over Russia. Karagounis, who scored Greece's all-important winning goal, is one of his team's most important players, and will surely be missed against the Germans. But it will be up to Fernando Santos to find a suitable replacement for the 35-year-old Greece skipper.
"Karagounis is a key player for us and it's not good for Greece to lose his services. We will play for him on Friday. All the other players are ready to fill the void," stated Greece striker Dimitris Salpigidis in reference to the captain's absence.
As well as coping with this, Greece will have to find a way to deal with the efficient German attack, which scored a total of five goals in their three group games, with three of these goals coming from star striker Mario Gomez.
But as Greece midfielder Kostas Katsouranis recently stated to the press, his team don't want to portray their underdog image against the three-time world champions, but instead want to set out to cause another major upset.
"We're going to play Germany. What do you think we are thinking? That we are going to lose? That's why they are going to have a tough time," stated the fired up 33-year-old.
"What do they think? That we are just going to stand there and look at them? We're going to play them. We have shown this during the games we have played so far."
Despite their underdog tag, it is clear that Greece will confront what promises to be a hotly-contested quarter-final against Germany with everything that they've possibly got. To count them out would be a big mistake.
