But first Greece must overcome the political deficit among euro-zone states: they may no longer want to push Greece out, but neither do they want to lend it more billions to keep it in.
Either way, as it had been in their first game against Poland, Greece's first-half luck was completely out.
Such sentiments mark a significant departure from the role the German bond market has played since the European debt crisis first exploded with concerns about Greece in the first half of 2010.
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Tthe Egnatia Odos reaches Kavala, the first town in Greece's Macedonian province, 110km west of Komotini.
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As of the end of the first quarter, Greece had borrowed 90 billion euros from the ECB.
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Greece first entered the competition in 1974, and Cyprus joined seven years later.
Not at first, when Greece, Spain and the others used the euro's low interest rates as an excuse to party.
The end of the first half saw Greece probe Jung Sung-ryong's goal with two promising crosses which just evaded striker Angelos Charisteas.
Rumors of a Greek exit have flown left and right, with claims that Eurozone member-nations were asked to draft contingency plans, first denied by Greece, then confirmed by Belgium.
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The decision on whether to call a general election will hinge on the outcome of 13 contests for the powerful post of periferiarch (regional governor), the first time in Greece that senior administrators have been directly elected.
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Now teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, Greece was first sanctioned for violating the European growth and stability pact in 2005.
Ports of call for the Scholar Ships' first voyage will include Greece, Morocco, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, Singapore, India and Cyprus.
The last time inflows were this large into gold ETPs was in the second quarter of 2010, when the situation in Greece had first come to a head, Brooks said.
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Simple clinical diagnosis would probably trace the condition back to 1896, the year of the first modern Olympic Games, when a trainee accountant from Melbourne called Edwin Flack headed to Greece as Australia's first Olympian.
Mr Samaras annoyed Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and other European conservatives by opposing Greece's first bail-out.
This discussion began a few months ago when the possibility of Greece defaulting was first laid on the table.
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When Greece signed its first rescue agreement in May 2010, GDP was likewise expected to tick upward in 2012.
Still, sentiment was knocked and Tuesday was the first chance for investors in Greece to react to the news.
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On June 8, we will witness the opening ceremony here followed by the first match between Poland and Greece.
Greece was the first of three eurozone countries to request financial assistance from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
Since Greece's first bail-out in May 2010, the government has imposed austerity, increasing taxes so much that people can barely manage.
Mr Papaconstantinou, who introduced Greece's first austerity programme as the country tried to rein back its escalating debt, denies any wrongdoing.
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Greece, the first country to receive a European Union bailout more than three years ago, is now in its sixth year of recession.
There had to be a big premium to "punish" Greece when the first bailout happened, or there wouldn't have been a bailout at all.
Having fought back from a goal down and with only 10 men in their first game against Poland, Greece looked set to stage another second-half revival.
Since 2010, the European Union and the IMF have promised more than 200bn euros in lending for Greece, the first country to be hit by the eurozone crisis.
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When the G20 finance ministers gather in Paris they face a stark fact: that nearly a year and a half since Greece received its first bailout, the crisis remains unresolved.
Greece, the first of the peripherals to implode and take bailout money, was also downgraded, sending it deeper into junk status. (Read Portuguese Parliament Rejects Austerity Plan, PM Socrates Resigns).
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However, he could not match the success of his first spell and, in 1988, he moved to Panionios in Greece and then to Iceland for his first foray into the murky waters of coaching a national side.
The rescue of Greece is a necessary first step, but it will not end the crisis.
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