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Rehhagel 'never expected Euros victory'

15/06/2008

Otto Rehhagel has admitted he is not overly disappointed with Greece's first round exit at the 2008 European Championships, despite going in as defending champions.

The German-born coach, who has been in charge of the Greek national side since 2001, saw his side eliminated from the competition after a 1-0 defeat to Russia.

But afterwards he claimed he never expected Greece to replicate their "miracle" victory at Euro 2004 because they had been drawn in such a competitive group.

"We all came here obviously to get the best possible result from the tournament but we were in a group with Spain and Sweden. We knew it would be difficult," Rehhagel commented.

"We will not be the only ones with a big reputation to exit at the first stage because either France or Italy will not make the quarterfinals.

"A miracle happened in 2004 and a miracle only comes around every 30 years. That is why we call them miracles."

Greece's defeat means they are still yet to find the net in the tournament after suffering a 2-0 reverse against Sweden earlier this week.

And Rehhagel admitted it is this profligacy in front of goal that is holding them back.

"Our problem is that we score so few goals," he said.

"It was a very competitive match and we played better than we did against Sweden. But unfortunately - and this is nothing new - we didn't score.

"It is for that reason we focused on a tight defence and hitting them on the counter-attack. We are not a team that scores three goals in every match."