Every tournament has an adopted underdog, so why do I feel nothing for Greece?

Everyone roots for the underdog don’t they? Or at the very least, we’ve all glanced at the Euro 2012 odds in support of the minnow.

After all, the underdog has an easy and associative charm that the all conquering behemoth doesn’t, as it sits far removed from the football everyone plays down the park in the plush surroundings of neat, logical and sometimes bewilderingly brilliant football.

This is fun to watch, but equally entertaining is being afforded the chance to do this with the added bonus of seeing the underdog cheekily spring a winner, in spite of the seemingly overwhelming odds.

As a result then the prospect of a match between a battling Greece side and the efficiency and fluid attacking movement of strong favourites Germany should be an enticing one. However, the fixture really doesn’t excite me.

In fact, the drawing of the two teams together has prompted little more than a shrug of the shoulders and for this I squarely blame Greece.

The heroism of overcoming a seemingly superior foe has been played out many times by Greece in recent years, most notably their defiant triumph at Euro 2004, when rigid defending and Angelos Charisteas’ head was enough to see them lift the trophy.

And again recently against Dick Advocaat’s Russia, who had breezed through the opener against Czech Republic, but were ambushed by a late first-half goal and their opposition’s willingness to sit on the slimmest of margins.

Even the German bailouts of a financially stricken Greece and the talk of Eurozone exits have failed to add an extra dimension to a team devoid of football sparkle.

And herein lies their problem. Their recent success and occasional shock result has brought with it an expectation of Greece as a populist underdog and a nation who will be offered as a potential surprise package.

But, unlike the joyous attacking spirit of Cameroon’s 1990 World Cup side, South Korea’s unfettered enthusiasm in ‘02 and the energy and snarl of Wimbledon’s triumph over Liverpool in the ’88 FA Cup final, Greece have nothing appealing about their play.

As underdogs, they posses little of the traits shown by their contemporaries, which made them so appealing to fans, and for the quarter-final they won’t even have their talismanic captain, Giorgos Karagounis, who is suspended, having picked up a second yellow against Russia.

Quietly productive, the Greek players are a credit to themselves and their fans, but to the neutral they are little to get excited about.

As a neutral in Friday’s game, the temptation is to root for the underdog, but if they continue to offer little entertainment in return for your support, it’ll be difficult to go Greek.

Tags: Germany, Greece, UEFA Euro 2012

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