Greece defender Vassilis Torosidis played down the prospect of his country's revival at the World Cup on Tuesday, saying a "transformation" ahead of the key match against Nigeria is not possible.

The Greeks, making their second World Cup appearance and still chasing their first goal, lost their opening game 2-0 to South Korea on Saturday with Torosidis missing an early chance to score.

The 25-year-old Torosidis said the defense-minded Greeks will redouble their efforts for Thursday's Group B match at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein but are unlikely to undergo any radical change.

"To be honest, there can be no transformation in five days, not for any team," Torosidis said.

"What we need to be is very stubborn and to show this on the pitch. Even if we don't win, we won't be disappointed as long as we play well."

The Olympiakos player said Greece's chances of getting out the group would have been 50-50 with a win against the Koreans, but refused to say what he now thought of his team's prospects.

While claiming to be happy to follow instructions from coach Otto Rehhagel, Torosidis appeared to question the German veteran's choices.

"I was asked to take the set pieces," Torosidis said. "I won't say no to the coach - that's my character. You could see for yourselves whether I was successful or not."

Rehhagel, who turns 72 in August, faced criticism in Greece for surprisingly not picking the physically intimidating Sotiris Kyrgiakos and substituting captain Giorgos Karagounis at halftime against South Korea.

Kyrgiakos said he is ready to play the Nigerians.

"I don't take my (place) for granted ... Of course, I want to play in the next match and I'm ready," he said. "But the main disappointment is that we didn't beat the Koreans."

The Greeks play Argentina in their last Group B game, the same opponents who beat them 4-0 in their calamitous 1994 World Cup campaign. Greece was also defeated 2-0 by Nigeria and 4-0 by Bulgaria in the United States-hosted tournament.

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