Panagiotis Yannakis's team next faces France in a re-match of the 2005 EuroBasket semi-final. Both teams are missing a key player in their system, as French point guard Tony Parker has missed the entire tournament with a finger injury and Greece are without Nikos Zizos, who is out after breaking three bones in his cheek.

The winner moves onto a semi-final with either the United States or Germany.

Greek captain Mihalis Kakiouzis has averaged 8.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals in helping the team to a perfect 6-0 record.

The forward talked to FIBA about the quarter-final showdown with France, dealing with Zizos's injury and how coach Yannakis is preparing the team.

FIBA: Mihalis, Greece next face France in the quarter-finals. That of course is a re-match of the semi-finals of the 2005 EuroBasket. What are your thoughts on the encounter?
Kakiouzis: It's a totallly different game for us, and also for them. Maybe they want to beat us for what happened last year. But after one year we want to beat them again to go to the semi-final. It's a very important game for us against a very strong team, also without Tony Parker. We have to work very hard for 40 minutes minutes to win the game.

FIBA: You mentioned Tony Parker, do you think France are a better team without him because they have to play more balanced?
Kakiouzis: Maybe. Until now they have played better. Tony Parker is very important player. So for them it's a very big loss. They have improved since the first games of the preparations. And they're getting better and better. In this kind of game, one mistake is very important.

FIBA: The team continually says defense is the key to your success. What do you have to do to beat France?
Kakiouzis: For sure, we don't need to change our defense. Maybe we have to improve it a little bit because they have more experienced players than (Round of 16 opponents) China. If we play good defense, steal some balls and we can get some fast break points, it will be easier for us. I believe it will be a close game. For sure, we must play very well if we want to have any chance - not just against France, but against anybody.

FIBA: Greece are playing their third game without Nikos Zizos. How has it gone so far, and is there a will on the team to win for him?
Kakiouzis: After the injury, I said it would be very important for us to win the cup. One life, or one injury is more important than one cup or a game. Some things in life are more important. We want to win for Nikos because we want him to be happy. Maybe he'll be at the game after a week in hospital. It's a very big loss for us because we are a team, and any one missing is very important for us.

FIBA: How is his health right now?
Kakiouzis: He's better. He has three broken bones in his upper cheek. He probably needs an operation when he goes back to Greece. But he's much much better now.

FIBA: What has coach Yannakis been telling the team during this tournament? What has he stressed to the players?
Kakiouzis: Just a lot of small things. Because the small things are the most important ones. We've been together for three years now, so we know each other really well. Patience is the most important thing. The younger guys who are in their first big tournament want to finish the game right away in the first quarter. But you see that in most of the games we have started slow. During the game we have improved and found the ways to win. So patience is one of the biggest things.

FIBA: Everyone talks about focusing on one game at a time. But how hard is it not to look ahead to the next opponent - either USA or Germany?
Kakiouzis: If somebody said they're not thinking about what happens in the other games in this tournament, I'd say they are a liar. We know what would happen if we get past France. But like I said, this is a very very important game for us. It's the most important game for us so far. We want to get to the medals. If you want a chance at a medal, you have to beat France.

FIBA: After the 2005 EuroBasket title last summer, what would a medal mean to you and the team?
Kakiouzis: It would be the biggest success for the national team ever, and for our country. We are a small country, only about 10 million people. So it would be a very big success - even going to the semi-finals. But we want something more. We will try to play hard to go to the final. It doesn't matter about playing the USA or whoever.