Greece
Group : C with Colombia, Ivory Coast and Japan 
Current Fifa Ranking : 12th with 1055 points
World Cup Appearances : 1994 and 2010
Best Achievement : First Round
Head Coach : Fernando Santos
Captain : Giorgos Karagounis
Greece proved exactly why surprises lie around every competition’s corner in 2004 when they were crowned European champions in Portugal. They disappointed in previous editions of this cup, and the squad is not as resilient or deep as the title winning one was back then. One could also recall how they defied bookmakers’ predictions and knocked Russia out in Euro 2012 to reach the quarter finals.
Group C is a very tight knit group, with Colombia being preferred as the potential toppers. Falcao and the rest of that squad have proven to be one of the sides to look out for this summer, whilst Drogba and Honda, along with their respective squads Ivory Coast and Japan, are two sides with the ability to cause upsets to the biggest of teams. What is a certainty is that the way this group shall pan out will be interesting.
In Giorgos Karagounis, Greece’s team captain is brimmed with experience and is having a decent club campaign in England with Fulham. Roma’s Vasilis Torosidis and Borussia Dortmund’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos provide the high level of defensive know how required in such a tournament, whilst Bologna pair Panagiotis Kone and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos and Catania’s Panagotis Tachtsidis aid in midfield. Strikers come in a variety of forms, with Celtic’s Giorgos Samaras being a proficient one, yet the one to watch out for is Olympiakos main man Kostas Mitroglu, who is currently enjoying a rich vein of form for both club and country.
The Piratiko have the tough issue of being ranked as Europe’s weakest participating side by bookmakers and pundits alike, which could prove to be a blessing in disguise should they be under-estimated. Though they don’t play the most attractive of football styles, they are certainly a rigid squad, proven by only conceding just a handful of goals during the qualifiers. Whilst they may not send shivers down opposition’s spines, they’re certainly not a squad to dust off.
