OTTO Rehhagel has never doubted his own ability. Today he leads Greece in the Euro 2004 final against Portugal and the only thing that is likely to have surprised the German coach on the remarkable journey there is how long it has taken the rest of the world to realise just how good he is.
When he coached Bayern Munich in 1996, Rehhagel arrogantly put the name of the baroque artist ‘Rubens’ under his doorbell instead of his own name, suggesting that out of the trainee painter from Essen had become a painter of champions. Many Germans,
meanwhile, felt that he had become too big-headed with his constant quotations of Goethe and dinners with Placido Domingo.
Rehhagel was sacked by Bayern after only 10 months but has had the last laugh this summer as his limited Greece side have beaten hosts Portugal, holders France and the much-fancied Czechs and drawn with Spain on their way to the final of Euro 2004, while Germany went out in the group stage. And Rehhagel, who coached Werder Bremen between 1981 to 1995 and won two Bundesliga titles and a Cup-Winners’ Cup, was unable to resist the temptation to bait some German journalists present after Greece made the quarter-finals.
"There have been those who said that I can only coach in Bremen but these championships have showed that I can coach everywhere. Look at what I have done," Rehhagel said. The Germans have grudgingly accepted that the 65-year-old has worked miracles with a previously underachieving Greek team, but many experts have chosen to focus on the negativity of his tactics rather than the success he has had in turning a set of ordinary players into a terrific team.
Football magazine Kicker wrote in an article last week: "Otto Rehhagel, the oldie of football, has proved what all football theorists always dispute, that it is possible to be successful without any acknowledgement of modern tactical variations. Otto’s simple recipe comes from the era of the Grandads: don’t let your opponents create anything by closing them down and should someone still emerge from that crowded midfield then you need a ‘broom’ in your penalty area to sweep up any remains."
Greece have certainly managed to stifle their opponents so far, putting in 242 tackles - almost double the number of today’s opponents, Portugal. And Rehhagel has found the perfect ‘broom’ in Traianos Dellas, the former Sheffield United centre-back who only played 14 league games for Roma this season. Dellas has been outstanding in central defence, acting as a sweeper while the other centre-back, Mihalis Kapsis, has nullified players such as Jan Koller and David Trezeguet.
But perhaps the most impressive performer in the Greek back-four has been right-back Giourkas Seitaridis, who has man-marked Thierry Henry and Milan Baros out of the two second-phase games. Porto have already signed the defender for £2m while Chelsea spent £13.5m on his predecessor at the European champions, Paulo Ferreira, who was dropped by Portugal after their first game. Perhaps Peter Kenyon isn’t spending Roman Abramovich’s money that wisely.
The other successful component of Rehhagel’s team has been the midfield where Theo Zagorakis, formerly of Leicester City, has been outstanding, and players such as Stelios Giannakopoulos of Bolton and AEK Athens’ Konstantinos Katsouranis have raised their games considerably. Greece will, however, be without influential Inter midfielder Georgios Karagounis as he is suspended for picking up two yellow cards in the last two games.
It has been said that Greece are like a German team without the strikers and it is true in many ways. Werder Bremen striker Angelos Charisteas has done well up front on his own so far and scored twice, but Greece as a team have only scored six times in five games - compared to England’s ten in four games - and the onus is on German discipline and organisation.
As he did at club level, Rehhagel has focused on players who are prepared to work for the team. That fact is nicely illustrated by one of his idiosyncratic rituals: before signing a player he would invite them to dinner at his house, and would only sign them if his wife Beate approved. Beate’s role was to identify the "nice boys" who would give their all for the team, and weed out the playboys and barrack-room lawyers.
Rehhagel said this week: "There is only one way you can go far in a tournament like this and that is if the players work as a team. When I took this job the players were too individual but we have changed that now." Karagounis added: "We have a family atmosphere in the squad and a strong team ethic. The team has very good players but no-one stands out. This is the sign of a good side."
It is also the sign of an effective, but dull, side. Rehhagel, however, will not change his tactics for the final. Neutrals may hope for an early goal, but Rehhagel doesn’t care. "People tell me my tactics are not modern, but modern football is about winning," he says.
And the people in Greece don’t care either. His nickname from Bremen, ‘King Otto’, has aptly been resurrected as Greece’s first king went by the same name, and Rehhagel admitted earlier this week that he is so popular in his adopted country now that the police allow him to drive in the bus lane.
No wonder. Greece had only qualified for two major tournaments before reaching Portugal and left both the 1980 European Championships and the 1994 World Cup without winning a single game. They have only tasted defeat in three of their past 22 games.
Rehhagel, unsurprisingly and understandably, feels that he deserves most of the credit. He
claims that he has calmed down in recent years, but no one believes him. "I used to be a walking volcano," he said this week. "But I have changed. My new favourite phrase is ‘emotional intelligence’. That is what we need to have to beat Portugal. I love that phrase."
And if Rehhagel loves it, then his players are sure to apply it.
The full article contains 1062 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
