Theofanis Gekas to join Hertha

Greece's star striker Theofanis Gekas will join Bundesliga's whipping boys Hertha Berlin in January. The team, which has failed to deliver in the Bundesliga this season, secured qualification in the Europa League yesterday with a 2-o win over Sporting, signed Gekas on loan for Leverkusen for the rest of the season.

Gekas, a one time Bundesliga top scorer (season 2006/07), is a key figure in Otto Rehhagel's Greece team. We all remember what Angelos Charisteas did in EURO 2004 as a target man, and now the same hopes are on Gekas.

The 29-year old was top scorer in the European qualifying process for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, albeit scoring 3 goals versus lowly Luxembourg and Moldova and a hat-trick in one match versus Latvia. But he's a dangerous player with his presence in the Greek forward line. Even if his team doesn't make it through to the next round, Greece's group B opponents defenders will face tough time facing him.

Group B overview

Argentina
Nigeria
South Korea
Greece

Fixtures:

12/06/2010, Johannesburg - JEP, Argentina vs Nigeria
12/06/2010, Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth, South Korea vs Greece

17/06/2010, Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Greece vs Nigeria
17/06/2010, Johannesburg - JSC, Argentina vs South Korea

22/06/2010, Durban, Nigeria vs South Korea
22/06/2010, Polokwane, Greece vs Argentina

Much like France in group A, Argentina are here looked like the one, who will run away with the group win here. And it can happen, if Maradona can get things right. Big part of this group's outcome will depend on the 1st round of matches. If the better teams, at least according to FIFA rankings, Argentina and Greece can win their first matches, then it would be very hard to dislodge them.

Again, I don't want to offer any predictions here, but I do think that Argentina will make it through. They've got a very nice fixtures list, even though all the teams are good here.

This group is linked with group A, so the winners will meet group A 2nd and runner-up the winner of group A.

Denmark and Greece ready for another surprise?

As we all remember Denmark infamously won the European Championships 1992 literally coming straight from their summer holidays. Greece have done the same. You would've been mad, if you'd predicted that Greece will win the EURO 2004, but they did. Could the two surprise the big guns again?

While Denmark won the EURO 1992, they're not a familiar name in the World Cup finals. They weren't there the last time out, in Germany, and actually reached the finals only 3 times before South Africa.

So you can see the players haven't got a lot of big stage experience, even though they always seem to show impressive play in the qualifying, but often miss out in the end. This time they had a awesome campaign, pushing powerhouse Portugal into the play-off and knocking out neighbours Sweden entirely.

While the players might not be the most experienced ones, the manager is. Morten Olsen himself was part of the Danish side for nearly 20 years from 1970-1989, playing over 100 matches. He's been the manager for quite some time now. 9 years is a lot in modern day football, especially internationally. He's been through thick and thin, seen all the up and down, it's now his duty to mould his side ready to perform in the big stage.

Greece is also lead by a legendary manager. German Otto Rehhagel delivered the EURO 2004 for the nation, not often reffered in a footballing sense, and the man is still in charge. His reign has now also stretch to quite a long one. He was appointed in 2001.

South Africa will only be the second one for Greece. Their debut was in USA 1994, which they ended goalless and pointless.

There's been quite a few changes since the EURO triumph, but there are still players, who were part of the success. Also a number of younger players are starting to make a name for themselves. And if striker Theofanis Gekas, who the top scorer in European zone in qualifying, can deliver the goals, Otto's Greece might surprise once again.