Greece (National Football)

Claudio Ranieri has been sacked from his post as manager of the Greece national team. It's the second dismissal this year for Ranieri, who was relieved of his duties by Ligue 1 side AS Monaco back in May.

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Sunday, Nov. 16

Greece Interim Manager Revealed

"The Hellenic Football Federation announces that the role of interim coach for the friendly match with Serbia will be (carried out by) Kostas Tsanas and Nektarios Pantazis," the Greek FA announced, courtesy of BBC.com.

Saturday, Nov. 15 

Claudio Ranieri Out as Greece's Manager

Sky Sports reporter Pete O'Rourke confirmed the Greek FA's decision to show Ranieri the door:

That result was apparently the tipping point for Hellenic Football Federation chief Giorgos Sarris, per Mail Online writer Sean Gallagher:

Following today's devastating result for the national team, I take full responsibility for the most unfortunate choice of coach, which has resulted in such a poor image of the national team being put before the fans.

The governing board will convene and take responsibility among all the members to make the necessary changes needed to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassing night.

Those strong words are not unreasonable from a governing body whose national team has a reputation for at least being competitive on the international stage.

Greece have not always won plaudits for their defensive game, but it did win the nation the 2004 UEFA European Championship. The country has never hit those heights since but has remained a tough nut to crack in tournament play.

Ranieri, the one-time Chelsea boss, is still a popular figure within the game. However, results have simply not been good enough on his watch, as Sky Sports noted:

The 2004 champions are bottom of the table with just a single point from four matches and appear unlikely to reach the 2016 finals in France.

However, Ranieri will remain in charge until after Tuesday’s friendly international against Serbia.

Perhaps this is an opportunity for the Hellenic Football Federation to appoint a more attack-minded coach to overhaul a trusted but rather stale style of play. There is no word yet on who Ranieri's successor will be.

Greece has officially filled its managerial void by hiring veteran boss Claudio Ranieri to lead the national team through Euro 2016. He replaces Fernando Santos, whose stint came to an end after the Ethniki were eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup.

UEFA's Euro 2016 account confirmed the hire and noted the sides had agreed to a two-year deal:

Interestingly, Ranieri has made more than a dozen stops during his time as a manager, which dates back nearly three decades, but he has never been the head coach of a national team. He has coached some top European clubs, including Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan.

His most recent stop came at Monaco. He spent two seasons with the Ligue 1 side, leading them to a second-place finish and a Champions League berth this past campaign. Despite that success, he was still let go at season's end.

Now, he takes over a Greece side that hasn't advanced beyond the quarterfinals in the European Championship since shocking the field to win the 2004 tournament.

Chris Paraskevas of ESPN FC passed along comments from the 62-year-old Italian boss, who confirmed he had other options but liked what he heard from Greece:

The Ethniki are of course known for their traditionally defensive style of play. They scored just seven goals in six matches en route to the Euro title a decade ago. They had only three goals in four fixtures at this year's World Cup.

Ranieri is unlikely to lead a major overhaul to the approach, but getting the side to generate more chances is key to his success. As WhoScored.com points out, the use of through balls will probably be one thing he preaches to the squad:

Many international squads prefer to work around World Cup cycles, but Greece is taking a more conservative route with a two-year deal. If there's notable progress made leading up to the European Championships, an extension for an additional two years is likely.

Ranieri obviously doesn't lack experience, but this is a new venture for him. It will be interesting to see whether he tries to make any major changes or simply tries to build off the foundation in place and improve on it.

Greece begins qualification for Euro 2016 on Sept. 7 against Romania.

Greece have exceeded expectations at this year's World Cup, and Fernando Santos should be grateful to his back four for their part in this achievement.

They came within an agonising whisker of the quarter-finals. However, the pain of the exit should not overshadow the enormous pride that can be taken from what was achieved.

Greece have never qualified from the group stages of a World Cup before. To do so this time meant displaying remarkable resilience.

Qualification from Group C seemed unlikely before the tournament began, and even more unlikely following their 3-0 defeat to Colombia. In the context of what has come since, that does not seem as bad a result as it did at the time. Colombia have been one of the tournament's most impressive teams.

Following that game, 38 minutes into their clash with Japan, Kostas Katsouranis was sent off. In that moment, disaster loomed large. It seemed that Greece's hopes were gone. However, in truth, it was a moment that galvanised the Ethniki into a more effective force.

The changes Santos made to Greece's midfield from then out made their attack more potent. However, it would have been for nought without the heroic efforts of their back four.

Vasilis Torosidis at right-back, Jose Holebas at left-back and Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Kostas Manolas at centre-back were ever-present for the Piratiko. They each played every minute of Greece's World Cup.

For the most part, they played very well indeed. There were mistakes, Torosidis was lucky not to concede a penalty with his handball against Costa Rica. Against Colombia, Manolas displayed an understandable lack of composure in the early minutes, and his attempted clearance sent the ball into his own net.

For Colombia's third goal, the entire back four appeared to switch off.

However, those mistakes were the exception rather than the rule. Against Colombia, both Papastathopoulos and Manolas made crucial last-man tackles. Against Costa Rica they made effective clearances of the ball 11 and 10 times respectively.

WhoScored.com gives every player a numerical rating based on their statistical performance in each game. Papastathopoulos was Greece's highest-scoring player against Costa Rica and Colombia, with Manolas taking the honour against Japan.

Only their game against the Ivory Coast saw someone from outside of their centre-back partnership awarded, with Georgios Samaras being recognised for his excellent contribution.

When initially considering this article, I intended to concentrate solely on the centre-backs, so outstanding have they been. They combined magnificently, covering each other's space, making the best of Manolas' outstanding pace and Papastathopoulos' fine reading of the game.

However, the full-backs are also worthy of praise, in particular given their contributions to Greece's attacking play. Holebas looked to be Santos' most creative outlet against Costa Rica. He made 16 crosses and four key passes, which was double the number of his closest rival, Papastathopoulos.

Torosidis was also crucial during the campaign, putting in more crosses than any other Greek player in the games against Ivory Coast and Colombia.

Greece are a famously defensive-minded side. While the second half against Ivory Coast and the second half of extra time against Costa Rica saw them remove their shackles and attack, their success in 2014 was still generally built from the back.

Can we just skip straight to the penalty shoot-out?

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 29, 2014

As Gary Lineker's tweet during the Costa Rica game suggests, neutrals may not have found them particularly enjoyable to watch. However, Greece played to their strengths.

Some of their defences' outstanding performance may be as a result of the system they play, but the system they play may also be as a result of the outstanding defenders available to them.

With Jose Holebas the oldest of the back four at 30 years old and showing no signs of slowing down, Greece's defence should be with them throughout qualification for Euro 2016.

It would not be a surprise to see any success they have at that tournament built on the same outstanding defensive platform.

All statistics per WhoScored.com

In the end, as most neutrals suspected, it was the lack of goals that ultimately proved Greece’s World Cup downfall.

After the 3-0 defeat to Colombia to kick off their World Cup in ominous fashion, the fear had been that Greece’s defence would prove equal in its inadequacy to the attack, which always looked like being the side’s overriding weakness in the tournament.

But further games showed Colombia’s attack to be one of the most prolific and inventive in the competition, while Greece’s obdurate defence exhibited something approaching its true colours in a 0-0 draw with South Korea, a game they played the majority of with only 10 men after Kostas Katsouranis’ soft red card.

That left Fernando Santos’ side to face the Ivory Coast in a pivotal Group C encounter, knowing only a win would possibly be enough to put them through to the knockout stages.

To do that they needed goals (well, at least one of them): They just did not know where they were going to come from.

“I don’t care who does it,” their coach, Santos, told reporters in the build-up to the game. “If it is [goalkeeper Orestis] Karnezis that will be fine with me.”

In the end, it was a last-minute penalty, nervelessly converted by striker Georgios Samaras (his ninth goal for his country on his 77th appearance) that allowed them to progress with a 2-1 win.

Five days later, it was by the same method that they would finally exit the competition.

In a World Cup almost universally lauded for its excitement and adventurous attacking play, Greece were the one reliable exception.

“Our tactics have been the same in all the games,” acknowledged Santos before Sunday’s game. “To stay tight in defence to contain the opponents and stay dangerous in attack.”

This refusal to play in a style that might be beyond their limitations was never likely to win them many friends among the neutrals, even if it is tempting to wonder how countries such as England might fare on such stages with a similar lack of self-delusion.

Even against Costa Rica, a team hardly as proficient at either end of the pitch as most of the other last-16 participants, Greece set out to preserve the clean sheet above all else.

Initially, that worked—at least until it did not. The likes of Kostas Manolas, Jose Holebas and Sokratis Papastathopoulos all impressed with their uncompromising defensive work, but when Bryan Ruiz rolled home a tepid strike shortly after half-time, Greece suddenly needed to change their strategy.

In that pursuit they struggled painfully, with the crosses of full-back Holebas time and again proving about the most dangerous attacking outlet for their side. From his deliveries Greece had their chances, although Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas proved the equal of any shot sent his way.

Then, Greece were sent another lifeline, as Los Ticos defender Oscar Duarte received his second yellow card just after the hour-mark and was sent off. Yet, even with the numerical advantage, Greece toiled painfully in search of anything approaching a clear-cut opening.

Fortunately for them, in the final minute their luck finally struck. Santos pushed Sokratis forward in a desperate search for an equaliser, and the Borussia Dortmund man was in the right place at the right time to turn home the rebound after Navas could only parry substitute Theofanis Gekas’ improvised shot straight into his path.

In 90 minutes, Greece had at least scored once. With Costa Rica visibly tiring, it seemed that perhaps another goal in the next 30 minutes would be enough to put them in the quarter-finals.

There was one obvious moment when Greece seemed like they would achieve that aim. After a rare Costa Rica attack, the Europeans had the chance to counter-attack at speed, as they roared into the opposition half with plenty of men in support.

This was it: A five-on-two attack. But a delayed pass created only a half-chance that Navas easily denied, and Greece’s fate was sealed. If they were going to go through, they would need to do it via the penalty shootout.

They started well, scoring their first three to maintain parity with their opponents. But then Navas delivered once more to deny the despairing Gekas and so, when Michael Umana scored to make it a perfect five from five for Los Ticos, Greece were out, victims of their Achilles’ heel.

"I don't think we used the 30 minutes [of extra time] as well as we should,” Santos, who was sent off by the referee before the decisive shootout, told reporters (per Eurosport) afterward. "We started it as if it was the last minute of the game, but there was still 30 left.

"We just needed to pass it around well and go into their half of the field and do things well. We were controlling the game, but then we wanted to try to finalise things individually."

The immediate aftermath of a tournament exit is always acutely painful, but with time and the proper perspective perhaps the Greek players will realise what they really achieved this summer in South America. They escaped a group that featured three evenly matched teams and one standout side, reaching the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time in their history.

“It just did not work out well for us in the end, but this is a team that we should all be proud of,” Katsouranis, the captain who has probably now played his last game for his country, added (per Ekathimerini). “Everyone wanted to make Greek people happy again, but we cannot change the result now.

"We can only wish we get to see Greece have similar runs in the future, too.”

Earlier on Sunday, it was reported, via NewsBomb.gr, that the Greek squad members had turned down their World Cup bonus money, asking instead that the funds be put toward building a training centre to house the national team.

That may be the next step in the evolution of the side, an infrastructure that will help produce and nurture attacking players of a class that matches their many defensive talents.

Maybe then penalty shootouts will not have to be their recourse.

“We did our best but when you lose in the Russian roulette of the shootout, it is just a matter of fortune,” Samaras said. “We fought as a team, we gave it all and lost as a team.”

Samaras may be right. But if you are forced to play Russian roulette enough, at some point you will pay the price.