The stakes for Greece’s World Cup campaign have increased dramatically heading into their third and fourth matches, with pressure mounting on them to score crucial points against Scotland and Denmark as they hope to keep their qualifying hopes alive.
Greece is set to face the Scots and the Danes in the coming October break, and the fate of their qualifying dream could very realistically be revealed by the end.
The “Ethniki” will face Scotland first in Glasgow on 10 October at 5.45am AEDT, and victory to either side would go a long way to setting themselves up nicely to finish in the top two of their group.
Winning is a must for the “blue-whites”, especially after their loss to Denmark in their last game set them back dramatically.
The previous loss put their goal of winning the group in great doubt, but a second loss to Scotland would put them in perilous danger of not even securing second place and getting another shot to qualify for the World Cup via the play-offs.
The outcome against Scotland will impact how crucial of a game it will be when they take on Denmark in Copenhagen on Monday 13 October at 5.45am.
Greece’s ambition to somehow sneak into first will be all the motivation they need to try pull off the upset, but even a draw would do them well in terms of strengthening their position as the runners up (provided they beat Scotland first).
Greece coach Ivan Jovanovic spoke with an air of confidence in his players to do the job ahead of the crucial October matches.
“I think we’re ready,” the Serbian manager said on Monday ahead of the games, stressing the players have once again cultivated a good atmosphere upon their arrival for the matches.
Jovanovic noted the team’s familiarity with Scotland after facing them recently in the Nations league play-offs, while expressing that the challenge will be more intense now that they are facing off in the World Cup qualifiers.
“The game against Scotland is important, we have to be just as good, have the same confidence in a difficult venue like Glasgow, so that we can win the game and increase our chances of qualifying for the next stage of the qualifiers.”
