World Cup 2010

Otto Rehhagel Happy As Greece Progress To World Cup Finals At Ukraine's Expense

The coach says the players did as they were asked...

19-Nov-2009 3:56:57 AM

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Otto Rehhagel - Greece (INTIME)

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Greece coach Otto Rehhagel was happy to see his sides strategy pay off after they defeated Ukraine 1-0 in the second leg of their World Cup play-off to reach next year's finals in South Africa.

A solitary goal from Dimitris Salpingidis shortly after the half hour mark was enough for Rehhagel's men to progress after a scoreless first leg in Athens and the German coach was very pleased with the efforts of his side.

"The Ukrainians had very good combinations, but our strategy with the counter attacks bore fruits. We knew from various analysis that they couldn't score easily, despite they have great forwards and we took advantage of it. We were missing many players and we ended up playing with 10 players due to injuries," he told a press conference.

"I was very happy for all my players, because they did what I asked them."

When confronted by a Ukrainian journalist about the Greeks style of play, the German suggested that they make the best of what they have in terms of personnel.

"We would play nice football, if we had Kaka, [Lionel] Messi and Xavi," he declared.

Rehaggel has guided Greece to their first World Cup finals since 1994 in the United States and just their second finals in history.

Paul Madden, Goal.com

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