Euro Cup 2012: Germany VS. Greece Match Preview/TV Info

With Portugal defeating Czeh Republic on Thursday, the attention now shifts to front runner Germany and surprising Greece's quarter final match up.

Germany enters the match as the only team to win every single one of its group stage matches. The scores might seem rather close, but the Germans were superior to their opponents in the "Group of Death" for long stretches of time. Their best match saw them dismantle a frustrated Dutch team that had a tournament to forget.

Thus far, they have been led by timely goal scoring, strong defending, and aggressive offense. The biggest surprise for the Germans has been Mario Gomez who is currently the golden boot leader with three goals and one assist.

Greece did not have a particularly strong three games of group play. They died against Poland, gave up two goals in the opening six minutes against the Czech Republic, and looked to be destroyed by Russia. However, right beofre the half, a timely Russian mistake landed on the foot of Giorgos Karagounis who scored a goal to give the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead. They would shut down the Russians in the second half and wrapped up a qualification to the second round of the tournament.

Key Player of the Match

Germany goes as Mezut Ozil goes. He has not registered a goal yet and only has one assist to show for his efforts, but Ozil has conducted the German offense like a military genius. It is rare to see Ozil make a mistakes as he seemingly knows where all of his forward and midfielders are on at all times and makes the small but effective plays almost every single time. He will need to continue outsmarting the Greeks' stingy defense as he has done against the likes of Denmark and Portugal.

Greece Wins If...

It does what it knows to do best: Defense. Greece will not control ball possession in this match and they are not built to do that. Greece will need to employ its top notch defense and clog the midfield as best as they can. They will have to stand up on their penalty area and force Germany into using its aerial game, but their best bet is to put as much pressure on Ozil and wear him down as best as possible. The longer the score remains 0-0, the more frustrated Germany will become and the more it favors Greece.

Germany Wins If...

It plays patiently. Greece is probably not going to present Germany with many defensive difficulties. They will however impede the German attack as best as they can and look for a counterattack or German mistake. German has a juggernaut of an offense, but needs to wear the Greek defenders down until it gets its opening. If Germany scores a goal first, then Greece will be forced to do something they are not comfortable doing: attacking. The moment the Greeks have to attack is the moment their disciplined defense falls to shambles. At this point Germany can do what they did to Argentina and England in the 201 World Cup: Put up four goals at will.

Prediction: Germany wins 4-1. Germany's juggernaut offense is set to break out sooner or later. Germany scores early in this one and Greece implodes. Ozil and Gomez pad their stats a bit in this one.

Remaining Matches:

June 23: Spain Vs. France 2:45 ET

June 24: England Vs. Italy 2:45 ET

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