Mission to boldly go where no Greek has gone before

 Greece enters the World Cup on Saturday, aiming for its first ever qualification from the group stage

By George Georgakopoulos

Forty-seven months of waiting has finally reached an end, as that special month that comes but once every four years for soccer lovers has begun with the kickoff at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The additional attraction for Greek fans is that the country’s national team will be there with the mission to boldly go where no Greek has gone before: the knockout stages of the tournament.

This pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Soccer, where love for the sport borders on religion, is just the third time that Greece has qualified for the World Cup finals, but it's also the second time in a row. After its disastrous World Cup debut in the US 20 years ago, when Greece lost all three games and conceded 10 goals without reply, the national team put on a much better performance in South Africa in 2010, scoring its first goals and a victory in the finals, beating Nigeria 2-1.

Now the challenge ahead for the Blue-and-Whites is none other than to push for qualification from the group stage, where Lady Luck as well as the good results of recent years have landed Greece in a relatively negotiable group that includes Colombia, Japan and Ivory Coast.

Manager Fernando Santos, for whom Brazil will be a swan song on the Greece bench, said in a recent interview that Greece has the ability to qualify to the second round – the last 16 of the World Cup – but that he also knows it is not just down to the national squad’s performance: It also depends on how the other three teams perform in this wide-open group.

The Portuguese coach has always opted for a defensive approach during his four years at the Greek helm...