Greece coach Santos lauds his squad

Greece coach Fernando Santos on Saturday lauded his gritty team for its stunning 1-0 defeat of Group A powerhouse Russia that propelled it into the Euro 2012 quarterfinals.

"I'd like to congratulate my players for all their effort.

"This was a difficult match, and they gave everything for this qualification," the Portuguese manager said.

He underlined that securing a berth in the last eight was highly symbolic for a country locked in a deep economic crisis, as well as having a personal edge for a squad who lost defender Avraam Papadopoulos to injury in its first match of the tournament.

"It goes without saying that we are very happy and very satisfied," he said.

"We managed to give joy to Avraam and to all the Greeks. I think what we achieved was very important."

"This result was a result of the effort and decisiveness of all my players."

Santos said Greece would not let itself give in to euphoria, however.

"Tomorrow we have to clear our minds and keep our feet on the ground. Just because we won this game, it doesn't mean we are the best in the world," he said.

"But just because we lost the previous match, it doesn't mean we are the worst. We know who we are."

Greece had come into the Russia match on the back of a 2-1 defeat against the Czech Republic- who also earned a quarterfinal berth on Saturday by beating tournament co-host Poland 1-0.

The Greeks' Euro 2012 campaign had begun with a 1-1 draw with the Poles, where they showed their fighting spirit by battling back with 10 men to equalize.

AFP

(China Daily 06/18/2012 page24)