Rehhagel gets Greek vote of confidence

uefa.com - Tuesday 17th of June 2008

Otto Rehhagel will remain as Greece coach for the 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign, the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) has confirmed.

Commitment
The 69-year-old German was given a new two-year contract in March and EPO president Vassilis Gagatsis said today that the UEFA EURO 2004™-winning coach will keep his job despite the holders' exit from the 2008 finals with one match remaining. "We will continue with Otto Rehhagel until 2010," the president stated. "The easy way would be to change the coach, but we will stick with the hard way. The driving force of this team has been the support and the unfailing trust between the players, the coach and the federation. In Greece we are capable of forgetting about everything. Rehhagel is the architect of Greek sport's biggest ever success. Let's not destroy everything. The world champions Italy or [FIFA] World Cup finalists France will be eliminated, possibly both, but they are keeping calm." Rehhagel was appointed in 2001.

Successive defeats
Defeats by Sweden and Russia mean Greece's campaign in Austria will end with their Group D meeting with Spain in Salzburg on Wednesday, but Gagatsis is confident they can bounce back in their attempt to reach only their second World Cup. "It has always been my firm belief that Greece should be present at the big tournaments, because that's the best way for a team to get established in the footballing world," he said. Rehhagel's men will face Switzerland, Israel, Latvia, Moldova and Luxembourg in qualifying.

Bouncing back
"Sadly, we didn't achieve anything positive this time, because we weren't able to record the victories I believe we could have," continued Gagatsis. "In the first encounter [against Sweden] we didn't perform as we should have, in the second [against Russia] we had no luck. Luck is always a welcome element. We are not pessimists, we look to the future. We are not looking for excuses. I know the players are sadder than they can say. The team now have to snap out of it and bounce back in order to be ready for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. That's our aim now: to turn the page."

Retiring pair
Gagatsis also paid tribute to goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis and defender Paraskevas Antzas on their retirement from the national team. "They are big boys, they are responsible for their decisions, but I hope other players will not follow in their footsteps," Gagatsis said. "I would like to thank Nikopolidis and Antzas from the bottom of my heart for their contribution to the team. Especially Nikopolidis – I want to thank him publicly, because he is a goalkeeper and as such he gets brutally criticised when he makes mistakes."

•   Advertisements