Outgoing Greece coach Fernando Santos has clarified comments regarding his former players, praising their passion for soccer but lamenting the fact that they did not play with cooler heads during extra time in their second round World Cup match against Costa Rica, which led to the national side being eliminated from the tournament.

“I think I was unable to pass the message to the players when we went to extra time because that was a very difficult moment as the players were very tired and anxious,” Santos told Portuguese state broadcaster RTP.

“We were unable to keep a cool head, to think more of the team. But I’m not criticising any particular player. If we had played differently in extra time we could have obtained an even more historical result.”

Santos took Greece into the second round of the World Cup for the first time in its history but appeared unhappy about the performance of his players.
However, the Portuguese coach insisted in his interview that he felt the Greek players had given their best.

“No one can say to these players that they don’t have passion for the game,” he said. “I don’t know any other players with such passion. I’ve always told them that if I had to give them a score on a 0-10 scale, I would give them 11.”

However, the former AEK and PAOK manager admitted that Greece had been weak in attack and that players often tried to make up for this through individual efforts, which at times held the team back.

“In organised attacks our players were very individualistic and in a tournament like this that individualism damages the confidence of the team when it attacks,” he said.

Santos praised Giorgos Karagounis, the midfielder who announced his retirement from international soccer after 139 appearances, for his passion.

“Karagounis is the real Greek player: the passion, the individual characteristics, he is a symbol, he has such an indescribable love for the Greek shirt,” he said.

Santos, however, also suggested that the national team has a bright future, noting that there 13 new players in the squad compared to the one that took part in the 2010 World Cup.

Santos also stressed the role he had played in developing the grassroots of Greek soccer in his four years in charge of the national set-up.

“If there is something that I think I left in Greece – beyond the results and the friendship with people and the relationship with Greek people – it’s the legacy I left at the Greek federation, where I helped create the structure of Greek soccer,” he said.

“Now there is under-15 soccer, there is a national tournament with scouting of 14-year-olds, which didn’t exist before. Also, there is a database – you can go to the Greek federation at any hour of the day or the night, you click one button and you know everything you want about the players and their careers. That was created by me and my team.”

He clarified he did not sign a new contract with the Hellenic Football Federation over payment issues but said he would not rule out a return to Greece in the future.

Source: ekathimerini