Dimitris Salpingidis was not happy despite coming off the bench and earning Greece a draw against Poland.
Greek goalscorer and coach thought side could have won
Dimitris Salpingidis was not happy despite coming off the bench and earning Greece a draw against Poland.
The Greeks had it all to do in the Group A opener after going in at half-time both a goal and a man down after Sokratis Papastathopoulos was harshly sent off for two soft yellow cards.
But Salpingidis changed the game when he came off the bench at the interval, scoring the equaliser before earning a penalty in the 69th minute, which replacement Polish keeper Przemyslaw Tyton saved from Greek skipper Giorgos Karagounis as the game ended in stalemate.
"We're not happy because in the end we could have won it," Salpingidis said. "We were left with 10 men but we came back strong."
Demanded victory
Greek boss Fernando Santos was also not happy with the draw as he said he had demanded victory but nevertheless the Portuguese - who replaced Otto Rehhagel after the 2010 World Cup - did not blame the players, more the referee.
"I don't think it was justified that Sokratis was sent off with two yellow cards, but still we succeeded in keeping the pressure on the game," he said.
"I totally accept the decision of the referee but that was a very difficult situation for us."
Santos refused to blame Karagounis for missing the penalty, saying: "He has scored in the past, this is football. My players did a great effort in the second half.
"After the first 20 minutes everyone did a great job. If we leave aside the first 20 I am really satisfied with all my players.
"I am always confident. We had a strategy to win with our attack but we didn't succeed in the first 20 minutes. We had to change our strategy when our player was sent off."
