Santos: Greece will strive for Czech result

Greece coach Fernando Santos has vowed his side will do everything to beat the Czech Republic in their second Euro 2012 Group A game.

Greece began their European Championship campaign with a 1-1 draw against co-hosts Poland, coming from behind to earn a point, despite going down to 10 men following Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ dismissal in the first half.

And, although his side’s next opponents lost their opener against Russia 4-1, Santos knows his team face a struggle to take points of Czech Republic.

“The fact that the Czechs lost to Russia doesn’t change my opinion about them,” he told reporters.

“After all, they had control of the game for the first 20 minutes. They are fast, compact and dangerous. We hope to counter their strong points.

“Greeks have this characteristic, to respond well to tough challenges and to surpass themselves to get the result they want.

“We will try to win. If we can’t do this, then we will try not to lose. That is an outcome that we must avoid. That doesn’t mean we’ll play for draw. We will do everything to win the game.”

Meanwhile, defender Vasilis Torosidis has called for his side to forget their bad start to the tournament, after they conceded within just 17 minutes against the Poles.

“It appears we were anxious at the beginning. Hopefully we’ll learn from our mistake,” he said.

The versatile Olympiakos player also refused to criticise Spanish referee ?Carlos Velasco Carballo for handing Papastathopoulos his marching orders for two relatively minor fouls.

“Everybody makes mistakes, referees too,” he said.

“I don’t want to judge the referees’ decisions. During a game both opponents need from referees to be at the highest level to help them produce a great performance.”

And goal-scorer Dimitris Salpingidis insists he will prioritise his team’s performance over hitting the back of the net again.

“Scoring goals at important games is a factor that encourages you as a footballer,” the PAOK striker said.

“But the team play has always priority and of course winning games. For my part I can say that I will do anything in my power to win tomorrow’s game.”