| Today it was a great day for the Greek football. We proved that we are a good side and we can achieve great things if the right circumstances exist. I had said in the past that although our team did not perform well it was not due to our team lacking talent. It was just a matter of putting the pieces of the puzzle right and that is what we did today. When you have discipline in your game and a clear mind then everything will eventually come. Our spirits were not high after a series of bad results and there was nothing to play for against England, but we did manage to get the puzzle right and performed well We have the talent required to perform well against world class teams but we need to change our attitude
The English thought that it was going to be an easy afternoon. Some of them even said that it did not matter who was in their squad as they would win anyway. That did not happen at all and only the fact that they were behind in the score for almost all the game shows how difficult it was for them come back in the game. England would had eventually managed to get through to the World Cup even if they had to play in the play-offs, but I believe it would had been more fair for us to win the game.
Still although I am happy for England as they deserved to qualify I can not be happy by seeing them doing what they accuse other teams doing.. diving. They were trying to get a foul outside the box and indeed their efforts paid off. Beckham had at least 10 chances to try for a long shot and having in mind his shooting abilities that was not fair at all. I was frustrated to see the referee give fouls so easily with every English dive although general speaking he did quite well in the rest of the game.
I hope that this game is a new beginning for our team. If we manage to change our attitude and stay focused we would certainly manage more than we did this time. As I said we have what it takes… we just need to use it.
Good luck to England and to our team for the future..
Nikos Dabizas
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