Germany vs Greece Euro Cup 2012 Betting Picks + Odds
With the group stages completed, the second match of the 2012 European Championship quarterfinals is set to get underway, with a marquee matchup that pits one this year’s overwhelming favorites against the underdog winner from 2004.
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In a tale of two countries, Germany will look to flex its offensive muscle, against Greece’s stingy defense when the two nations wage war on Friday.
When: Friday, June 22, 2012 at 2:45 PM EST
Where: PGE Arena Gdansk
TV: ESPN
Line: Greece (+1000), Germany (-350), Draw (+450)
The Greeks will need to ignore recent history if they want to arrive at the stadium with any sort of confidence, forgetting that the Germans have dominated them in the last eight meetings.
Having not lost in those contests, Germany has won five and drew their other three battles with the Greeks.
To make matters worse, the goal differential has also left Greece shell shocked, with the Greeks scoring seven goals, while Die Mannschaft piled up 17.
Nevertheless, time heals so they say, and it has been awhile since these two squads squared off, with Germany knocking the Greeks out of contention back in March 2001 as a part of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.
Before that, Greece’s only previous match against (West) Germany at a Euro Finals was back in 1980, when they drew 0-0 in the group stages.
If the Greeks want to reverse their losing trend, they need to stay focused on defense.
Hopefully, something they learned from their opening match against Poland, a game Greece tried to win offensively, but came up short after failing to seal the victory with a missed penalty kick. [ad-3678122]
They followed up that heartbreaking performance with a well-deserved loss to the Czech Republic, in a match they were never truly in, before finally pulling together against the Russians, when coach Fernando Santos decided to go back to a defensive game plan. And it worked.
Greece scored the only goal of the match, stunning the Russians and sending them home in the process.
It was perhaps the biggest shocker of the tournament, and you can bet Germany doesn’t want to become the next victim of an upset.
That means the Germans will need to get a strong performance from tournament darling Mario Gomez, who been using this Euro 2012 as his coming-out party to the rest of the world.
The 26-year old has netted three goals in his first three games, all of which were key in elevating the Germans to the quarterfinals.
Looking ahead to the match against Greece, it’s a good chance that Gomez will have his chances to score, providing his squad can crack Greece’s defenses.
One that will be without the counter aid of captain Giorgias Karagounis, who will be absent in this match through suspension, as he was booked for diving against Russia.
Matt’s Free Pick– Germany-– These teams are completely different from 11 years ago and Friday could show that as the Germans wrestle a close 1-0 win away from the Greeks.
