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NATAL, Brazil -- Rock-solid defenders who constantly chase, tackle and bully their opponents have been the key to Greece tactics ever since they became European champions in 2004. A decade ago, that team conceded a miserly four goals at Euro 2004 and its successor only conceded four in qualifying to secure its place at the 2014 World Cup as Greece stayed true to its reputation for hard work and ruthless discipline at the back. That all changed when the squad arrived in Brazil. The teams much-vaunted defence was torn apart in a 3-0 defeat by Colombia, whose display of speed and style sometimes left the Greeks standing around like statues. Greece now faces Japan in Natal on Thursday in a game that could very well put either team out of contention. Japan lost to Ivory Coast 2-1 in its opener, meaning neither team can really afford another defeat if they hope to advance out of Group C. Japan advanced to the round of 16 four years ago but lost to Paraguay on penalties. Greece has bowed out in the group stage in its previous two World Cups. For Greece, the need to rebuild its solid back line will be all the more important at a World Cup that is so far seeing crowd-pleasing flair in attack and plenty of goals: 44 in the first 14 games. Colombia scored in the fifth minute, forcing Greece out of its comfort zone right from the start and attacking with speed on the flanks. Greek frustration was reflected in two of its players drawing yellow cards in the second half. "That wasnt what people expected," Greece forward Andreas Samaris said. "I know what everyone expected of Greece though: that we would have 11 men behind the ball, defend, defend, defend and give everything to keep a clean sheet. "We went out to win against Colombia, and that philosophy will not change. We just hope it brings a better result for us because Japan is now a must, must-win game for us." Like Colombia, Japan is likely to attack at speed through the Europe-based trio of Shinji Kagawa, Yuto Nagatomo and Keisuke Honda. Against Ivory Coast, Japan had the better of the first half but ultimately struggled as the game got more physical in the second half. The arrival of the Ivorians star striker Didier Drogba as a second-half substitute also raised his teams performance and there was only a muted response from the Japanese. AC Milan midfielder Honda said that the team was determined to bounce back against Greece. "Nobody feels good about losing and obviously it was a shock," Honda, who opened the scoring with a powerful first-half strike, was quoted as saying. "But its not a shock that we lost, the thing that shocks me is we lost because we could not play to our strengths. "We gave our opponents front line too much respect. Mentally we were weak but that is not a problem that cant be fixed. A little bit more spirit can turn things around ... of course we still have an opportunity to get through the group phase." Pearl Washington Jersey Signed .K. Subban and Matt Duchene will be the two skaters sitting out the teams opening game. NBA Jerseys For Sale . Dancevic won his singles match on Friday, defeating Go Soeda 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-1, to even the best-of-five series at a game apiece. World No. 18 Kei Nishikori defeated Peter Polansky in the opening match, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. https://www.cheapnbajerseysjustwholesale.com/. Viewers in the Jets region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 6:30pm ct/7:30pm et. The game is also avialable on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg at 7pm ct. Stitched NBA Jerseys .com) - Many people at Eastern Washington are waiting to see if star quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. NBA Jerseys 2020 . Long snapper Patrick Mannelly announced Friday that he is retiring after a 16-year-career with the Bears, a span in which he played in a team record 245 games and snapped the ball 2,282 times.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Islanders will try to solve their issues against Central Division opponents when they visit the Minnesota Wild for Tuesdays battle at Xcel Energy Center. The Islanders own an above .500 record against every division this season except the Central. New York is 2-3-0 versus the division after getting dealt a 6-4 home loss by the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. That encounter kicked off a stretch of four consecutive tilts against Central Division opponents. After visiting the Wild tonight, New York will head to St. Louis for Thursdays rematch against the Blues before returning home to face Chicago on Saturday. New York had won four in a row against the Wild before Minnesota routed the Isles, 6-0, on Long Island in the last meeting on March 18. It was the sixth win in the last 10 encounters for the Wild, who have lost their last two home tilts against the Islanders. The Isles started strong against St. Louis before falling apart in the second and third period. New York jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening stanza and chased Blues starting goaltender Jake Allen from the game. However, Martin Brodeur stopped 14-of-15 shots the rest of the way for St. Louis, which tallied three times in both the second and third periods to win 6-4. Frans Nielsen, Ryan Strome, Michael Grabner and John Tavares supplied offense for the Islanders, who had a three-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the third time in 16 games. Jaroslav Halak was on the hook for all six goals on 40 shots in defeat, ending his franchise-record personal win streak at 11. No question we struggled on the back end, Islanders head coach Jack Capuano said. It was just a matter of time before it came back to haunt us and it did. Were missing three of our top four D but we have confidence in this group of guys. The Isles played without defensemen Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hammonic and Lubomir Visnovsky, who are all currently on injured reserve with various ailments.dddddddddddd However, Visnovsky and forward Josh Bailey, who missed the last two games due to injury, skated on Monday and Capuano said both could play tonight. New York fell to 6-4-0 against the Western Conference with Saturdays setback. The club is 13-4-0 versus the East. The Wild, who are 6-6-0 against the East, are 1-1-1 so far on a four-game homestand. Minnesota lost its most recent outing Friday against Anaheim, dropping a 5-4 decision in a back-and-forth contest. The Wild erased a 3-0 deficit to go ahead by one goal, but the Ducks would answer back for the win. Anaheim was ahead 3-0 after Ryan Kesler scored his second goal of the game at 2:28 of the second period. Minnesota would even the score by the end of 40 minutes and then grabbed a 4-3 edge when Justin Fontaine tallied 2:07 into the third stanza. The Ducks, however, evened the scored just 90 seconds later and Matt Beleskey would deliver the game-winner for Anaheim at 8:28 of the final period. Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, and Jonas Brodin joined Fontaine as the goal-scorers for the Wild, who were coming off a win over Montreal on Wednesday. Darcy Kuemper struggled between the pipes for Minnesota, allowing all five goals on just 18 shots. Well have to discuss [how comfortable the team is with Kuemper], Wild coach Mike Yeo said. Obviously, we have to make sure were strong there. Well evaluate that carefully. Niklas Backstrom will start tonight for Minnesota. He is 4-2-1 with a 2.17 goals against average in seven career games against the Isles. The Wild played their second straight game Friday without top defenseman Ryan Suter, who is battling the mumps. Suter is expected to return for tonights contest. Halak is 2-2-3 with a 2.11 GAA against the Wild and is expected to get the start tonight. ' ' '