Greece needs a miracle against Argentina

Johannesburg, Jun 22: Fiery Argentina is set to take on Greece next in its final Group B match on Tuesday, Jun 22. While Diego Maradona's men would be happy pocketing a single point with a draw to emerge on the top of the Group, the Greeks need to pull off a miracle as a win at this stage is crucial for their FIFA World Cup campaign.

Argentina has already smashed Nigeria and South Korea on its way to the final match to the group stage. While the 1-0 victory over Nigeria could be called a disappointment from the Argentinians, they shaped up for the second match and thumped South Korea 4-1.

Argentina is probably the only team that has not disappointed in the 19th FIFA World Cup while the likes of England, France and Italy have put up nothing but a weak show. Now, Argentina is in a position to lose the match by a two-goal margin and still reach the last 16.

However, nothing less than a good football fight can be expected from the match against Greece as Maradona is unlikely to sit and calculate permutations pertaining to the Group.

Fixture by Date - Fixture by Group - Teams & Groups - Points

Greece, on the other hand, needs win with a three-goal margin to advance to the knock-out stage. If they fail, they have nothing to do but to wait and watch the next Group B match between Nigeria and South Korea match before they know where they are headed.

While South Korea defeated the Greeks 2-0 in their opener, Greece managed to smash 10-man squad of Nigeria 2-1 in the second match to clinch the first world cup win.

Reports suggest that Maradona will be resting key players such as captain Javier Mascherano and strikers Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain. Messi, however, will still lead the attack.

Both Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain put up a brilliant show against South Korea. Higuin scripted history by pulling the first hat-trick of the FIFA World Cup 2010.

The Greeks are planning on sticking to their defence strategy against Argentina. But the Greek coach Otto Rehhagel knows that just drawing up a strong defence line may at the best give them a draw while the team really needs goals as well as a victory.

The teams have clashed against each other only once in 1994. It was in this match that Diego Maradona scored his 34th and final international goal.

Players to Watch:

Argentina: Lionel Messi
Greece: Giorgios Samaras, Vassilis Torosidis

All time head-to-head:

Games Played: 1
--Argentina: Wins 1, Draws 0
--Greece: Wins 0, Draws 0

1994, USA: Argentina 4, Greece 0

Goals: Argentina 4, Greece 0

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