Fetfatzidis giving Greece fresh impetus

Young Greece goalscorer Giannis Fetfatzidis paid tribute to coach Fernando Santos for giving youth its chance after the Olympiacos FC forward's double against Malta helped the 2004 European champions return to the summit of UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group F.

Fetfatzidis, 20, put in a man-of-the-match display in his seventh international appearance, netting twice in a 3-1 win against the section's bottom side to send Greece a point clear of Croatia and Israel, the latter having played one game more. "I'm very happy with the two goals I scored," said Fetfatzidis, who was joined on the scoresheet by 19-year-old FC Schalke 04 defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos. "We [the young players] are delighted the coach is showing his faith and trust in us, and this makes us want to give everything on the pitch."

These are exciting times for Fetfatzidis, who recently won a first Greek Super League title in his breakthrough season with Olympiacos. His pace and dribbling skills earned him various plaudits throughout the campaign, and those qualities were to the fore again as he harried Malta's defenders on his home pitch at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.

"It has been a very good year for me personally and I'll continue to strive to improve and become a better player," he said. "I'm happy that I can help by scoring goals, but it really doesn't matter who scores as long as we win. I understand that I can keep the ball a bit too much sometimes and that is something I am trying to change."

With Greece next facing tough away trips to Israel and Latvia in September before hosting Croatia the following month, Fetfatzidis is conscious of the fact that their place in UEFA EURO 2012 is far from certain. "The difference [with Croatia and Israel] is only one point, so we have to continue to play the way we've been doing," he said. "We need to be in a good position when we play Croatia at home and we'll have to give everything."