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Poland's Artur Sobiech reacts after scoring a goal during their international friendly soccer match against Latvia in Klagenfurt May 22, 2012.Reuters

Open competition

For Greece, this match against Poland will revive memories of eight years ago in Portugal, when it also faced the host nation in the opening game. A 2-1 Greek win not only stunned the favoured Portuguese, but also kick-started one of the most surprising runs in international soccer history, when Greece rode a solid rearguard effort all the way to the final, where it broke Portuguese hearts once more with a 1-0 victory. Greece has only two players remaining from that team on the current squad, but coach Fernando Santos, who replaced the legendary Otto Rehhagel in 2010, will try to inspire his troops with the knowledge that anything is possible.

Star power

Despite a proud record in the World Cup – with two third-place finishes in its seven appearances at the finals – this year represents just the second time that Poland will take its place at a European championship finals. However, the current squad is young and talented – with an average age of 25.13 the co-hosts have the second-youngest squad in the tournament – and is bolstered by a couple of emerging stars at either end of the pitch.

Up front, Robert Lewandowski, 23, is coming into his own as a striker. His 29 goals help propel Borussia Dortmund to the German league and cup double, and have attracted the attention of world super powers like Manchester United, who will make moves to sign the forward after the tournament, according to Poland manager Franciszek Smuda.

At the back, the team can call on 22-year-old Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to bail it out. After enduring a tough start with the Gunners after being thrown in at the deep end at a young age, Szczesny has come on leaps and bounds in the last year, with his performance in a 2-2 draw with Germany in particular earning rave reviews from German goalkeeping legend Oliver Kahn.

If both are on their game, Poland will be a tough act to stop, particularly in a fairly weak Group A alongside the Czech Republic, Greece and Russia.

Weight of history

If Greece is to cause another opening-day upset, it will have to ignore what's gone before. The 2004 European champions have played in Poland eight times and lost all eight, scoring just four goals in those matches. Recent history is not exactly on their side either, with the Poles triumphing in four of their last five meetings and unbeaten in their last six. Indeed, you have to go back 25 years to find an occasion when the Greeks were triumphant against their northern European neighbours – a 1-0 win in Athens in  European championship qualifier in April, 1987. The omens do not look good.

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