Greece head coach Steve Georgallis has revealed he was emotional after his team played their final World Cup game against England on Saturday afternoon.
The minnows, filled with part-time players, went down 94-4 to England at Bramall Lane, but they received a standing ovation at full-time from the fans in Sheffield.
As Greece were applauded off, attentions also turned to host nation England who secured their place in the quarter-finals as group winners after a faultless campaign to date.
And speaking after the game, Georgallis revealed what he told his opposing coach about their chances as they enter the group stage of the tournament.
“I think England have got the team to go all the way,” said Georgallis. “I said to Shaun (Wane) after the game ‘good luck, I hope you win it.'”
“At one point there we rattled them a little bit in the first 20 minutes, we had really good line speed and defensively we were turning up.
“We couldn’t do it for 80 minutes. Our players are not professional. They tried their heart out for the first 20-30 minutes but England’s class shone through.
“They scored some brilliant tries. I told my players the dummy half was going to run but you have got to stop it.”
For Greece, it was a special occasion as they rounded of their first-ever World Cup campaign against a tier one nation, something that would have seemed impossible only a few years ago.
The sport of rugby league was illegal in Greece up until one month ago and Georgallis admitted after the game that he had to hold back the teers thinking about what they had achieved.
“It’s actually a little bit emotional. I know we got beat by 90 but at one point we had four domestic players on and no reserves. They kept on fighting and fighting.
“I was a little bit worried they were going to a hit a hundred points, but they didn’t. The people have been great in England, we can’t thank the supporters enough.”