vs

European title holders will start their title defending in Salzburg on Tuesday night against dangerous Sweden. No one gives the slightest chance of keeping the title to Greece, since such a miracle doesn’t happen twice. However you can never be sure with Otto Rehhagel; his side played surprisingly well in the qualifications where German coach who has the status of divinity in Greece relied on established players.

Greece arrive to the final tournament after weak seasons in their clubs; however precisely this could be their advantage since most of the internationals are rested and fresh. It is well-known that they seem weak individually but under the lead of the excellent coach, they play completely different.

The Swedish will rely on their first star Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is still injured, but coach Lagerback would include him in the starting eleven even with one leg. The squad simply can’t do without him. Sweden qualified for the final tournament easily, but they did struggle against Northern Ireland, since they don’t handle defensive rivals well, so Greece can be a dangerous opponent for them.

The Vikings are an experienced squad, most of the players perform in European strongest leagues and the veteran, the indestructible Larson is another option for the attack.

It is hard to say that the rivals can base their tactics against Sweden solely on neutralizing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as many think. The trouble is that the rest of the players use empty space excellently and offensive midfielders can be very dangerous too.

Head-to-heads

Greece and Sweden have met on six previous occasions with Greece winning twice and Sweden once.

Greece are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Sweden (two wins and three draws). The Swede's sole win came at the 1920 Olympic Games (9-0). This match is not recognised as official by Greece.

Team facts - Greece

The defending champions have won three successive European Championship matches, since losing 2-1 to Russia in the group phase of Euro 2004.

Greece are on a streak of eight competitive matches without defeat. The most recent being on 24 March 2007, in European Championship qualifying against Turkey (1-4).

At 69, head coach Otto Rehhagel is the second oldest coach at Euro 2008, only trailing Spain's Luis Aragones (69) by 12 days.

Team facts - Sweden

Unbeaten in four successive European Championship matches (one win and three draws).

The Swedish squad is the oldest at Euro 2008 at an average age of 29 years and 85 days.

Head coach Lars Lagerback is the first national team coach to be present at three European Championships (2000, 2004, 2008).

Player facts - Greece

Goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis has kept a clean sheet in three successive European Championship matches. Only Edwin van der Sar (Holland, five matches) and Dino Zoff (Italy, four) have recorded longer streaks without conceding a single goal.

Kostas Katsouranis will win his 50th cap if he plays. He made his debut in the last meeting between Greece and Sweden, which was a friendly in Sweden on 20 August 2003 (2-1).

Giorgios Karagounis and Sotiris Kyrgiakos were Greece's only ever-present players during qualification.

Theofanis Gekas was Greece's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

Defender Vassilis Torosidis celebrates his 23rd birthday on the day of this match.

Player facts - Sweden

Henrik Larsson is top scorer for Sweden in European Championship competition having scored four goals in seven matches.

At the age of 36 years and 264 days, Larsson can break Roland Nilsson's record (36 years and 196 days) for the oldest Swedish player to compete at the European Championship.

Larsson, Thierry Henry (France) and Nuno Gomes (Portugal) can join Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany) and Vladimir Smicer (Czech Republic) as the only players to have scored in three European Championship editions.

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic (50 caps - 18 goals) has failed to score in 14 successive international matches for Sweden. His last goal for his country came in World Cup qualifying on 12 October 2005 against Iceland.

Player to watch

Angelos Charisteas  : Scored the winner in 2004's final and is still going strong at national level. Difficult for defenders to deal with.

Probable Line Up :

Greece : Nikopolidis, Torrosidis, Dellas, Kyrgiakos, Seitaridis, Amanatidis, Katsouranis, Basinas, Karagounis, Gekas, Charisteas

Subs : Patsatzoglou, Liberopolous, Goumas, Antzas, Chalkias, Giannakopolous, Vyntra, Spiropoulos, Tziolis, Samaras, Salpingidis, Tzorvas.

Manager: Otto Rehhagel

Sweden : Issakson, Alexandersson, Mellberg, Hansson, Nilsson, Wilhemsson, Linderoth, Kallstrom, Ljungberg, Elmander, Ibrahimovic

Subs : Allback, Andersson, Svensson, Shaaban, Dorsin, Larsson, Rosenberg, Majstorovic, Granqvist, Wiland, Stoor.

Manager: Lars Lagerback

---