Greece coach Fernando Santos criticises his players after losing penalty shoot-out against Costa Rica

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Santos blames players for Greece’s shootout defeat to Costa Rica

In the aftermath of their penalty shoot-out loss against 10-man Costa Rica, the outgoing Greece coach, Fernando Santos, has lashed out at his players claiming that some of them were more interested in personal glory than doing what is best for the team.

In a Radio interview, Santos said, “We had two or three players more interested in being remembered as the man to score a historic goal for Greece. It concerned them more to score than the correct circulation of the ball, leading to many mistakes and us losing possession.“

The Greeks were unable to make use of their promising position in the Round of 16 tie against Costa Rica, as they lost in penalties, even though they had the bulk of the chances after the sending off. The 59-year-old was sent off just before the shootout and had to watch his side crash out of the tournament on TV.

Santos’s comments didn’t go down too well with the Greek Media, who criticised him for his tactics. Outspoken Panathinaikos president, Giannis Alafouzos led the charge when he tweeted: “He is blaming the players for the elimination. It’s a shame he did not use the talented young players at his disposal instead of being stuck in his ways,”.Renowned Greek sports media site gazzetta.gr also questioned his decision to leave Brazil early, thereby missing the team’s farewell dinner.

After spending four years with the Greek national team, his contract expired on Monday and there are already reports that there is a verbal agreement with the Italian coach Claudio Ranieri who is set to take over at the end of the tournament.