Greece will face Colombia, Ivory Coast and Japan, while Australia has the mammoth task of playing Spain, Netherlands, Chile in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The first reaction to the draw from the Greece internationals came from left-back Giorgos Tzavellas, who said that “all three teams are difficult, but not the worst possible scenario for us. We will have to see them first, they have remarkable players, especially Colombia, but we should not be afraid of them.”
Defensive midfielder Alexandros Tziolis qualified the group as “difficult, as we know little of the teams because they are not from our continent, but we have our chances for qualifying.”
“I am happy with the draw. There were tougher opponents than the ones we were drawn to face” said the head coach of Greece Fernando Santos as soon as the opponents of his team in Brazil became known.
Ange Postecoglou, was in Brazil for the draw, said he won’t be changing his game plan too much when he finds out who the Socceroos will be facing.
As the stoic coach always preaches, having an unbeatable game plan that can adapt to any team is the most important thing.
“Scouting opposition, travelling to watch the Socceroos players in action for their clubs, logistics, hotels, flights and warm up games are part of the meticulous planning we will be putting in place to make sure we do our best to start the tournament on the front foot,” he said this week.
Hosts Brazil are in Group A with Cameroon, Mexico and Croatia while holders Spain open with a repeat of the 2010 final against Netherlands.
Here is the full list of the 2014 World Cup draw as announced this week:
Group A: Brazil, Croatia, Mexico, Cameroon.
Group B: Spain, Netherlands, Chile, Australia.
Group C: Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan.
Group D: Uruguay, Costa Rica, England, Italy.
Group E : Switzerland, Ecuador, France, Honduras.
Group F: Argentina, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Iran, Nigeria.
Group G: Germany, Portugal, Ghana, USA.
Group H: Belgium, Algeria, Russia, South Korea.