Greece want to spread joy amid debt crisis

"I don't like to say big words or throw promises around," he told a news conference. "We are all thinking about the [deciding Euro qualifier] against Croatia and how we managed to help people celebrate and escape from their daily problems for a while.

"That is what we will try to do again. I do not know how far we will go and what we can do but with our joy of playing football we want to give joy to Greeks.

"We are a young team and the atmosphere in the squad is outstanding and that is where everything starts."

Euro 2004 champions Greece face co-hosts Poland in the tournament's opening game in Warsaw on Friday.

"I see all the messages we get sent from our fans and that is additional motivation for us," said defender Avraam Papadopoulos. "We want to make the people happy who are with us during good times as well as bad times."