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Since Friday, Claudio Ranieri is officially at the helm of the Greek national football team. The Italian arrived to Athens and officially took office after Fernando Santos left, signing a two-year contract with the Hellenic Football Federation.

An Admirer of Ancient Greek Culture
 Greece is a favourite destination of the Italian coach who is in love with its beauty and culture. It is indicative that when the Acropolis Museum was open to the public, the 62-year-old Italian was among the first who visited it.
Favourite destination: Corfu
Among the islands best loved by Ranieri, who takes one or more trips to Greece every year, is Corfu. He met with Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich, with whom he worked during the 2003-2004 season. Last summer, the Italian spent his vacation on Mykonos, together with his wife.

The legacy that the coach gets is quite significant. During the last decade, the national team of Greece experienced great moments, the biggest of which was the European title in 2004 under Otto Rehhagel and the fairly successful performance at the European Championships in 2012 and World Championships this year with Fernando Santos.
Claudio Ranieri, who will receive €800,000 per year (in his contract, is also provided a premium for the finals of the European Championship in 2016) has come to Greece with the immense desire to work and shows determination to lead the team to even greater victories.
"I watched Greece at the Mundial. The team played well and I liked their spirit, we want to continue that. We’ll try to achieve better results," the experienced coach said.
Having worked with leading European Teams
 Claudio Ranieri does not need any recommendations. His coaching career speaks for itself. He is a true professional in every sense of the word. He has been a coach for teams like Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus, Roma, Inter and his last stop before Greece was Monaco.
Ranieri’s supreme moments are the European Super Cup in Valencia in 2004 (after 2-1 against Porto), the Italian Cup in 1996 with Fiorentina and the Spanish Cup with Valencia in 1999.
The new coach of Greece has made famous a number of players in European football: Gianfranco Zola of Napoli, Mendieta, Angulo and Farinos of Valencia, Frank Lampard and John Terry of Chelsea. Ranieri’s name is behind the most expensive transfers of that period in the Premier League of England – of the Argentineans Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo, the French Claude Makelele, the Romanian Adrian Mutu as well as of Emmanuel Petit, Budeviyn Zenda and William Gallas.