Giannis Maniatis and Grigoris Makos admit Greece will show Germany plenty of respect at Euro 2012, but claim a quarter-final clash holds no fear.
Maniatis and Makos looking forward to quarter-final challenge
Giannis Maniatis and Grigoris Makos admit Greece will show Germany plenty of respect at Euro 2012, but claim a quarter-final clash holds no fear.
Greece upset the odds on Saturday as they squeezed into the last eight as runners-up in Group A.
A 1-0 victory over Russia saw them progress at the expense of their opponents, and a meeting with much-fancied Germany now awaits in the knockout stage.
Greece know what it takes to go all the way at a European Championship, having taken the crown in 2004, and they are ready to rip up the form book once again.
Maniatis said: "We will be playing one of the best teams in the Euro. We surpassed ourselves against Russia. We achieved our qualification for the next round, something that was not expected by many.
"We will do the same against Germany on Friday. We will look them straight in the eyes, we will not fear them even though they are favourites. It is just a game and anything can happen."
Significant
Meanwhile, AEK Athens midfielder Makos, who is being tipped to stand in for suspended skipper Giorgos Karagounis against Germany, has vowed to give his all in the quest for Euro glory.
He said: "I will give 100 per cent and hope we will win and move to the next round.
"It is significant for us not to be loose in the beginning as we were in the first matches. The start of the match will be most important.
"It is also very significant that many players on our team play or have played in the German league, and this may help us."
Maniatis added that those inside the Greek camp are focused purely on sporting matters and are paying little attention to the game's political backdrop.
He said: "Here we are talking about sports. We are talking about football. We just want to bring some joy to the Greeks back home.
"It is not important that we have not beaten them in a long time. Traditions are made to be broken."
