EVEN six months on, Greece’s Euro 2004 triumph so defies belief that it seems as if it were drawn from the country’s ancient mythology. It will become a fable retold by future football generations whenever a seemingly- impossible task is faced; a supposedly-unbeatable opponent must be defeated.
That is because the success for the side of master tactician Otto Rehhagel in the Portuguese finals came by means of artisanship, that exists within most mortals, over artistry, which touches only the blessed few.
Before Greece’s football team ac
hieved an Olympian feat only six weeks before the nation hosted the Games themselves, never had a country so unfancied and, in terms of personnel, so unremarkable, walked off with the honours in major football finals.
That they did so had purists and heavyweight nations squirming. Rehhagel’s success came in shackling opponents with cast-iron defending, his team set-up reflecting the sole intention of strangling the attacking invention of more talented sides - and the very life from football matches.
Not pretty, but it was pretty effective.
Not that Greece played primitive football. They were uncompromising but technically proficient, and protected their goal with admirable composure and intelligence.
Rehhagel, a 65-year-old German, placed the onus on opponents to unlock his side’s defences. Even the mightiest of these could not find the key, and therein lay the problem with these finals. For sheer drama the event was mesmerising, without a doubt, but the footballing vintage was not for the discerning palate.
Illustrating this more than anything was how few players enhanced their reputations in Iberia in the summer. The glitterati simply failed to excel, leading to suggestions that the demands placed on those figures by the domestic game had robbed them of their sheen. Such as Thierry Henry, Raul, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and David Beckham will not reflect with relish on their efforts.
Apart from the Greeks, one man - or boy - certainly did. With rampaging displays of poise and power, 18-year-old Wayne Rooney arrived on the international scene in breathtaking fashion. His four-goal haul carried England to a quarter-final against Portugal, which in predictable fashion they lost on penalties, thanks to Beckham, who was beset with personal problems, ballooning his kick over the goal.
This encounter featured two teams who produced sporadically, but were far from outstanding. Had one team been placed in this bracket, Greece would surely have found their path to victory blocked. Instead, time and again they succeeded in highlighting the deficiencies of sides that were expected to roll them over.
This was true from the opening game, which saw them shock the host nation with a 2-1 victory that was not in the least a fluke. It was astonishing symmetry that Greece and Portugal should face up three weeks later in the final. Settled by a goal from Angelos Charisteas, the outcome had Greek newspapers declaring: "Olympus has new Gods". In particular, these deities came in the form of the captain and midfield inspiration, Theodors Zagorakis, faultless defender Traianos Dellas and, especially, Rehaggel.
Greece had made the knock-out stages by finishing top of a group containing Spain and Russia, the former living down to their tag as perennial underachievers, while the latter turned out to be the only side to defeat the Greeks in Portugal.
Leading nations were removed at an alarming rate during the group phase. Germany failed to win a game in their section including Holland, Czech Republic and Latvia, Rudi Voller resigning hours after their exit. Italy fared no better, but they did not depart without a moan, crying foul after an honest 2-2 draw between Sweden and Denmark ended their hopes of progressing to the knock-out stages.
Both Scandinavian sides were worthy of last-eight places, however, Henrik Larsson hitting a double - one of these the goal of the tournament - in an opening 5-0 victory over Bulgaria.
Regarded as among the best performances of the first phase, the exhilarating Czechs and the Dutch served up the tournament’s most extraordinary encounter. Dick Advocaat’s side were beaten 3-2 after leading 2-0. It put the former Rangers manager under enormous pressure going into a quarter- final against Sweden, but critics were silenced temporarily when this went Holland’s way on penalties.
The victory set-up the Oranje for a semi-final against Portugal, who had recovered well from their Greek set-back. Coach Phil Scolari had shown his mettle in making significant personnel changes early on to a misfiring team. The effect was to stimulate followers crazed with thoughts of a first international title following the vanquishing of England in the last eight.
The peerless Rooney apart, Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men had failed to convince in losing to France before seeing off Croatia and Switzerland. But the Gallic title-holders were even less convincing, however. France’s golden generation were strangely subdued throughout.
They would click into gear, it was confidently predicted, in their quarter-final against upstarts Greece, whose brave run just had to come to an end. Incredibly, though, Rehhagel’s team took advantage of a Charisteas strike to register the biggest upset in European Championship finals.
It was thought that they could not possibly repeat the feat against the Czech Republic in the semi-finals, but Karol Bruckner’s Czechs, who had thumped Denmark 3-0 in the quarter-finals, succumbed to another 1-0 victory for the Greeks, this time courtesy of a silver goal from Dellas.
A team who had failed to win a game in major finals had won enough of them to contest the showpiece; Portugal had edged out Holland in their semi-final.
A wonderful home crowd provided all the fervour and fizz imaginable at Lisbon’s Stadium of Light on July 4, but their countrymen did not respond in kind. Indeed, a third consecutive one-goal win for Greece, from Charisteas’ head in the 57th minute brought a deserved outcome to a tepid final that Rehhagel’s men controlled.
The grip taken by the Greek players on the Henri Delaunay trophy afterwards was as tight as the control that they had exerted over rivals in the weeks before.
The full article contains 1069 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
