Fernando Santos attempts to retain the passion for qualification, but at the same time to keep the Greek players down to earth. “We are very pleased that we managed to be among the 16 teams of the World Cup and we want to continue,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

The Portuguese coach and his colleagues will begin today to plan how Greek team will tackle its next opponent, since yesterday they had a day off. At personal level Santos has to manage only the absence of Panagiotis Kone, who suffers from muscular strain and he would not be ready for Sunday’s match.

Santos said that “It is wrong to believe that we have to win playing like Barcelona or like Brazil. We are … Greece. Greece has its own identity and its own system”.

Also, he said that “Costa Rica is a very strong team. They managed to pass to the next phase, not because of taking advantage of the climatic conditions, but because they are very good as a team and have played good football. It is a very tough opponent”.