Anyone who thinks the Greek women will not be as fired up to play at the EuroBasket as they were as hosts of the Olympics had better think again.

Coming off an emotional Summer Games a year ago when they achieved their aim of a quarter-final place, Greece rode the hot hand of superstar Evanthia Maltsi to a 66-61 triumph over Germany in Group A.

Maltsi, who was virtually unstoppable in Athens a year ago, exploded for 28 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists in a virtuoso performance.

The 1.8m forward's heroics brought Greece back from an early deficit. Linda Froehlich's lay-up gave Germany a 12-4 lead six minutes into the opening quarter, but Maltsi poured in eight points in a 10-0 run to give Greece the lead with 1:34 to go in the opening quarter.

Germany stopped the bleeding with a Katja Munck three-pointer and ended up taking a 35-32 lead into half-time.

When Marlies Askamp split two free throws after the restart, Germany stretched their lead to 39-32 but Maltsi and Greece came back.

They took the lead for good at 45-44 when Maria Samorukova made one of two from the line midway through the third quarter.

The Greeks built an eight-point advantage in the fourth quarter but the outcome was not decided until the final minute.

Germany fought back and closed to 62-61 with 1:25 remaining on Dorothea Richter's lay-up, however, baskets from guard Vasileia Gkouzini and center Polymnia Sarekgou saw Greece home and ended the scoring.

Greece have a clash with gold medal contenders France on Saturday, while Germany will look for their first win against Latvia.

Olaf Stolz (Germany Coach):

Because we couldn't maintain our good play of the first half, we lost the game. We couldn’t take the control of the game. I congratulate the Greek national team for their victory. We paid for the fact that we couldn’t stop Evanthia Maltsi. We have to forget this game and to focus for the next game.

Christine Ishaque (Germany: 

We performed great in the first half. We had the control of the game but in the third period we missed lots of easy shots, so Greece took the control of the game. We lost the game because of little mistakes.

Evanthia Maltsi (Greece):  

First of all I want to congratulate the German national team because of their performance. Our concentration was at the top. We scored off their turnovers and we won the game. I am very happy to win the game.

Haralambos Papazoglou (Greece Coach):

I congratulate my team for their performance. Especially in the second half, we had the control of the game. I think the most important point of the game was concentration. You can never know what happens in the first game. Now we have to concentrate for the next games.