Greece poised for surprise qualification

Cautious Greece, on the brink of their greatest international achievement, need a draw against eliminated Russia today to reach the last eight at Euro 2004.

The Greeks have not started celebrating but they appear to have done the hard work after upsetting hosts Portugal 2-1 and holding fancied Spain to a 1-1 draw.

"We have to play with the same focus and passion as in the previous games," coach Otto Rehhagel said on Saturday.

He will have to reshuffle his midfield as Stelios Giannakopoulos, who has a pulled muscle, and the suspended Giorgos Karagounis will be out of action.

Vassilis Lakis and Vassilis Tsartas, whose elegant cross found Angelos Haristeas for Greece's equaliser against Spain, are the likely replacements.

Lakis could strengthen the right side as fullback Yourkas Seitaridis, enjoying his runs up the pitch, would have to stick to his more defensive duties to secure the back.

Russia are hoping to give their 10,0000 disappointed fans something to cheer about before returning home after a dismal tournament, and coach Georgi Yartsev has promised that his players will come out fighting.

After defeats by Spain and Portugal, Russia, whose campaign fell apart before it really got started, will badly miss captain Alexei Smertin and goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov.

Smertin picked up his second yellow card against Portugal, while Ovchinnikov received a controversial red card for handling the ball outside the box in the same game.

Vyacheslav Malafeyev, who replaced Ovchinnikov against Portugal, should deputise in goal again. Central defender Roman Sharonov will replace Smertin after serving a one-match ban.

Probable teams:

Russia (4-4-2): 12-Vyacheslav Malafeyev; 14-Alexander Anyukov, 13-Roman Sharonov, 21-Alexei Bugayev, 16-Vadim Yevseyev; 19-Vladimir Bystrov, 20-Dmitry Loskov, 15-Dmitry Alenichev, 5-Andrei Karayka; 11-Alexander Kerzhakov, 3-Dmitry Sychev.

Greece (4-4-2): 1-Antonis Nikopolidis; 2-Yourkas Seitaridis, 19-Michalis Kapsis, 5-Traianos Dellas, 14-Takis Fyssas; 23-Vassilis Lakis, 21-Costas Katsouranis, 7-Theodoros Zagorakis, 10-Vassilis Tsartas; 15-Zisis Vryzas, 9-Angelos Haristeas.

Referee: Gilles Veissiere (France)

Linesmen: Frederic Arnault (France), Serge Vallin