Greece hold their nerve in Istanbul

(CNN) -- The world champions might not yet make it, but the champions of Europe at least will definitely be waltzing their way towards Austria and Switzerland next summer to defend their crown.

While Italy still need at least to avoid defeat in Scotland next month, Greece secured their place among the 16 finalists by following up their 3-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina at the weekend by beating archrivals Turkey 1-0 in Istanbul on Wednesday.

History, politics, geography and Turkey's famously friendly football fans would have made this a Class A grudge match whatever the circumstances.

Add to that the fact that Turkey were also playing to keep their own qualifying bid on track and that Greece were humiliated 4-1 in Piraeus by the Turks earlier in the campaign and the magnitude of this Greek victory becomes even more apparent.

The crucial goal came with just 12 minutes left when Giorgos Samaras' pass released Bayer Leverkusen striker Ioannis Amanatidis to calmly lift the ball past goalkeeper Volkan Demirel and cap a team performance as impressive as anything Greece produced in Portugal in 2004.

"We had lots of chances and should have scored more goals but in the end it worked out well for us," Amanatidis said afterwards.

Despite the disappointment of failing to qualify for last year's World Cup, Greek coach Otto Rehhagel has tinkered little with the formula that made his side the unlikeliest of winners at Euro 2004: Organization, resilience and a collective spirit more comparable to that of a club side than an international squad.

"I believe our basic quality [at Euro 2004] wasn't the element of surprise, but was and is our team spirit," says midfielder Georgios Karagounis.

"We aren't a spectacular side, we don't play like Brazil, but our team spirit is exceptional. If we maintain it, we are tough opponents for anyone."

There may be teams with better players in Europe, but there are few whose players work harder for each other -- a lesson that a few more fancied international teams featuring so-called "world-class" stars should heed. E-mail to a friend