Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis is a man with a mission.The 33-year-old midfielder could not have hoped for a better climax to his international career than playing in a World Cup finals and he is not going to waste his chance."Do you know what it means for me to play in a World Cup after playing for every age-group national team since the age of 13?" he asked Reuters on the flight back from Ukraine following the team's qualification via the playoffs.A few days later the trophy was in Athens and Karagounis touched it, turning to the Greek federation chief and saying with a huge grin: "We could win this, you know."While winning the World Cup does not appear a rational target for Greece, neither was winning the 2004 European Championship.Karagounis, who missed the final in Portugal six years ago, is determined to make amends for Greece's dismal showing in their only other World Cup appearance, in 1994, when they lost all three group matches, conceding 10 goals and scoring none.Capped 91 times, he is the natural leader of a team that is more driven by passion than tactics. Any and all of Greece's attacking moves start from the agile central midfielder, who is also a free kick specialist.After a successful career at Inter Milan and Benfica, Karagounis opted to return to Greece in 2007 and this season steered Panathinaikos to the Greek league and Cup double.Equipped with a never-say-die attitude, Karagounis wants to restore Greece's reputation after their disappointing showing at Euro 2008 when the defending champions exited in the group stage."I am optimistic," he said. "If we remain in such good shape then we will do well at the World Cup. We are well prepared and have everything we ask for, from coaches to physios. It was not always like that."(Editing by Robert Woodward;To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)News posted by www.newsinfoline.com
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