Athens - When German coach Otto Rehhagel sensationally guided Greece to victory at the 2004 European Championships, Greek football fans hoped the win heralded the beginning of great things to come. Five years down the line, they are still waiting and after having failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and losing all three matches at the 2008 Euro finals in Austria and Switzerland, Rehhagel and his team are just two games away from again missing out on a place at the World Cup finals.
But the flip side to that, is that they are also only two matches away from qualifying for the finals in South Africa next year and it is an opportunity that the players want to make the most of.
"We have reached the end of the road," the German coach said after his side's first training session ahead of Saturday's first-leg tie against Ukraine in Athens, "it is in these matches where you have to prove that you deserve the prize"
Striker Theofanis Gekas, who finished as the top scorer in the European qualifying campaign with ten goals, is confident that the side can advance to the finals.
"We are holding fate in our hands. If we qualify then pandemonium will hit," he said.
Gekas also dismissed pre-draw talk that Greece was the easiest of the seeded teams, saying you don't win games on reputations and pointing to events at Euro 2004.
"Everyone wanted to play Greece and look what happened there," he noted.
Upfront, Rehhagel has plenty of choice, as Bayer Leverkusen's Gekas competes with Euro 2004 hero Angelos Charisteas from German Bundesliga side Nuremberg, Celtic forward Giorgos Samaras and Dimitris Salpigidis, who plays for Panathinaikos.
The experienced coach has also given a surprise call-up to 21- year-old Kostas Mitroglou, who has impressed in matches for his club Olympiakos this season.
"In the mind of every player is to play in the national team. I did not expect to have been selected so early," said Mitroglou.
"I really want to help the team - the coach is a big name and namely he speaks German."
Ukraine, who qualified to meet Greece after finishing second in their group behind England, will travel to Athens without striker Andriy Voronin after the Liverpool player was left out of the squad by coach Olexiy Mikhailichenko, who said that the 30-year-old was not yet fully match fit.
Mikhailichenko has picked an almost exclusively Ukrainian-based squad, with former Chelsea and AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko expected to lead the attack in Greece.
The return leg will be played in Donetsk on November 18, with the winner of the two-legged tie qualifying directly for the finals.
