GDANSK: Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (pic) insisted Germany must be wary of Greece's threat from set-pieces as well as counter attacks but stressed that passion is their biggest weapon

The Greeks came practically from nowhere in Group A to book a place in the quarter-final - thanks to a shock victory over Russia in the third group game, and Neuer praised their never-say-die attitude.

"I have watched quite a few of their games on television and I have to say that I am particularly impressed by their passion," he told Welt Online.

"They are very aggressive in their duels and are not only dangerous on the counterattack or with long balls, they are also very good in set piece situations, on which we have to be very careful."

With a closely-fought encounter expected, Neuer ran through his preparations ahead of a penalty shoot-out, should the clash match goes to 120 minutes.

"I try to make myself as big as possible on the line. I concentrate on the penalty taker and pay attention to which foot reacts the quickest to shoot," said Neuer.

"I watch videos of all their penalty takers before the game and try to memorize how they shoot."

The Bayern Munich man took, and scored, one of the club's Champions League final penalties against Chelsea, but suggested he may not step up this time.

"That was a spontaneous decision," he said. "There are more options to take a penalty in the national team. But honestly, I would prefer to win the game before it ever gets to penalties."

Greece famously won Euro 2004 as huge underdogs, but Neuer is in no mood to help repeat the fairytale.

"As a goalkeeper I am not a romantic. I am more pragmatic," said Neuer.

"Part of football means that there will be teams who are limited in certain areas more than others. It is normal that they would try to compensate for those limitations and use other strengths. And you have to admit that their tactics are working again in this tournament."

And Neuer dismissed claims that Germany have become less of an attacking force than they were at the 2010 World Cup, where they scored four goals past Australia, Argentina and England.

"We are not more defensive. At the World Cup our defence was important too. It's just that nobody noticed it as much," he said.

"The old saying that attack wins you games and defences wins championships is not true, otherwise Bayern would have been champions last season since we conceded the least amount of goals. The bottom line is that you just have to have the right balance between the two."
 
 
- mD