Greek coach defends cautious tactics
Greece coach Otto Rehhagel defended his cautious tactics Wednesday, saying the style fits with the team.
Rehhagel, who led a defence-minded Greek team to an unexpected triumph at the 2004 European Championship, said his approach is still right for Greece after a 2-0 loss to South Korea took its overall World Cup record to four losses in four games.
Rehhagel said he would happily play open, attacking football if he had some of the world's best players at his disposal.
"If one day we had (Cristiano) Ronaldo, Kaka and (Lionel) Messi in our team then we can certainly play this kind of football," Rehhagel said on the eve of his team's Group B match against Nigeria.
"We have always played our way," Rehhagel said. "When I and my assistant started, Greece was in place 65 (in the world rankings) and we have advanced quite a bit (to 13th). This is the truth."
But a World Cup record of no goals and four defeats haunts the former European champions, who have now conceded 12 World Cup goals without scoring.
Greece's safety-first approach will be in direct contrast to Nigeria, which said Wednesday it was ready to take the attack to the Greeks and show off it's adventurous style.
"On our own part we are a very offensive team," Nigeria forward Peter Odemwingie said. "We prefer to play open football. We take risks but we want to play football that everyone will enjoy."
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