[Pat Murphy]

Greece-Spain Could Be Called Off Due To Disgraceful Pitch

You know a pitch is bad when even the home coach admits it. Coach Otto Rehhagel of Greece and Luis Aragones of Spain have both criticised the state of the turf - one more than the other - as Greece prepare to welcome Spain to the PAOK "Toumba" Stadium in Thessaloniki. It's so bad, the match might not even go ahead...

Luis Aragones blasted the state of the Toumba Stadium's pitch after inspecting the turf ahead of tonight's planned friendly between his Spain side and hosts Greece.

"It's been a long time since I saw a pitch that bad," he blared. "It's worrying, because the risk of injury is heavily multiplied on such a field.

"It's just not fit for playing. It is dangerous."

He indicated that he'd rather see the game suspended than have the possibility of injury take place.

"We know that an international match is hard to postpone, but it's not worth playing it on this pitch. We'll see what happens, but it's just not worth an injury," he added.

His players queued up to agree, each anxious to remain fit ahead of the Liga opener this weekend.

"I hope logic reigns here," sniffed Xavi, while Andres Palop added, "I'm surprised at the pitch. It's impassable. We will need to avoid injuries. The Liga is imminent and risk is at its highest when the turf is like this."

Mariano Pernia echoed his boss' earlier words, saying he'd "never seen a pitch like it since [he] was a kid."

The Greek FA, to their credit, actually responded in a similar vein.

Often, host countries will do their utmost to see the game go ahead, even on a poor pitch, but the Hellenic Football Federation is reportedly furious that PAOK Thessaloniki allowed their pitch to decay in such a fashion.

Coach Otto Rehhagel admitted, "Of course, I feel the pitch isn't in a good condition, and I can only hope that it improves."

Spain have injury problems in defence while Greece face casualties in attack ahead of tonight's friendly clash.

Goal.com

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