Greece are only one match into the European Championship and already close to surrendering the title they won four years ago. After losing to Sweden 2-0 in their Group D opener, the Greeks need a positive result against Russia in Salzburg on Saturday.And to make things tougher, Russia are in a similar position. “It is a final,” Russia coach Guus Hiddink said Friday. “I’m curious to see how our players manage. Not just technically, but also mentally, emotionally to play a final.”Greece striker Dimitris Salpingidis agreed. “It’s a very important game. If we lose we’re out. Everyone knows that,” he said. “We will do everything possible for victory.”A defeat at the Wals-Siezenheim Stadium could also end Russia’s chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals and bring to a close Hiddink’s record of reaching the knockout rounds of every international tournament he has coached at.Russia could go into the match without his top three forwards. Striker Pavel Pogrebnyak has been ruled out of Euro 2008 with a left knee injury and attacking midfielder Andrei Arshavin is suspended for the Greece game. On Thursday, Hiddink said replacement striker Roman Pavlyuchenko had a leg muscle injury and it was unclear if he would be fit for Saturday.Greece appeared content to play for a draw and offered virtually nothing in attack against Sweden, with coach Otto Rehhagel criticised for fielding a line-up that included five defenders and seven players from the team that won Euro 2004. Hiddink, meanwhile, has called his players naive and lambasted them for handing Spain a 4-1 win with basic errors. Now, Hiddink seems to be trying to goad Greece into playing a more attacking style on Saturday. “I think as European champions you should take a little bit more initiative,” Hiddink said. “But OK, that’s their way of playing, we’ll deal with that.”Russia were the only team to beat Greece four years ago, but Shirokov said that result offered no clues or confidence for Saturday’s encounter. “It doesn’t mean anything. I don’t know about Greece, but the Russian team is completely different,” he said.
