By George Georgakopoulos

The Greek squad had mixed feelings about its opening game with Poland in the Euro 2012 that ended in a draw, with the realization that the national team could have won the game, but did redeem itself from a tough situation as formed at half-time. A major problem is the injury to Avraam Papadopoulos, that is much more serious than originally perceived.

“Honestly I am not satisfied. We came here to win, so cannot be satisfied,” said Greece coach Fernando Santos. He added that he did not think either of the two yellow cards shown to Sokratis Papastathopoulos were correct, so he should not have been sent off.

Captain Giorgos Karagounis said that had he not missed his penalty Greece would have won, but stressed that problems such as adverse refereeing and playing with a man down make the team close ranks and become like one “giant.”

“We are happy because in the second half we showed our true character and turned the game around with 10 players. What we have done will help us from now on. Everything depends on us,” said Karagounis.

The Greeks lie joint second in the group after their draw with Poland and Russia’s 4-1 thrashing of the Czech Republic on Friday.

They will not only miss Papastathopoulos in Tuesday's match against the Czechs, but also Avraam Papadopoulos, who sustained a cruciate ligament rupture and is going to miss the rest of 2012, according to preliminary medical estimates.

The Olympiakos defender is already back in Athens for treatment.