Greece

he following will not be impartial. As a national team, Greece really are the worst. Technically that's not right; for the reason I dislike them so is because of something they do very well. Their ability to turn games of football into unwatchable dirge is unparalleled.

For those needing a reason, I should at least outline my case against them. As many may already suspect, it goes back to Euro 2004. I don't begrudge them the win at all; it's not often a genuine underdog in world football can pull off such a feat. Especially given that the group stages of the Euros tends to be a lot more difficult than the World Cup (at least until they expand it anyway). My problem is the amount of teams that followed their blueprint afterward. Teams borrow other ideas all the time, the reason why Barcelona's model was aped so many times was not because of its aesthetics but rather that they were successful. And so in the aftermath of Euro 2004, international football was rather painful to watch at times as teams would trench themselves in, making the spectacle itself as unspectacular as possible. As elitist as I know this sounds, it broke my heart watching the Copa America in 2011 as virtually every game was reduced to nothing.

Greece did not invent playing defensive, negative football. Their victory did show that there was a path to glory for those not blessed with the best players through hard work and organisation. That then got abused at club level (specifically Chelsea), where football is much more of an organic process than a culmination of a generation.

Though any attempt to liven up a Greece game would be welcomed and the idea of a last minute penalty deciding the fate of two nations should be enough for me; the contentious manner in which they were awarded that late spot kick only underlines the fact that I will be subjected to another ninety minutes of their special brand of football.

Whatever lasting effect they had on foottball has now long gone. The Spanish influence took over and right now we are in the midst of the most dynamic and exciting world cup in my lifetime. I can't help but feel that right now they're guilty by association rather than anything else. Then I realise that in qualifying for the next round, they only scored two goals (and both of those were in their last game). The more things change, the more they stay the same.