Euro 2004: Greece continues to write the myth

12 years after Denmark created an earthquake in Europe, Greece wrote another miraculous story at Euro 2004. People even rated Greece's victory as more miraculous than Denmark's in 1992. .

The Greek team entered the tournament as a "paving" team (the odds for winning the championship were 250/1). In fact, before entering the tournament, people could not even read the names of the Greek players.

 

Greece Euro 2004 team

However, almost unknown players like Traianos Dellas, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Georgios Georgiadis, Kostas Katsouranis, Theodoros Zagorakis, Angelos Charisteas, Giorgos Karagounis... have surprised all of Europe.

The Greek team started the Euro 2004 campaign with the first earthquake, defeating host Portugal 2-1. Next, they drew with Spain in the second match with a score of 1-1. Greece ended the group stage with a 1-2 defeat to Russia, but they still went on to finish second in the group.

Coach Otto Rehhagel's team entered the knockout round with terrifying coldness. They won with a score of 1-0 against two championship candidates, France and the Czech Republic, in the quarterfinals and semi-finals.

In the final match, Greece also thanks to Angelos Charisteas's fateful header to defeat Portugal 1-0 and win the championship.

 

Greek players celebrate the Euro 2004 championship

In fact, Greece's playing style in Euro 2004 was nothing special. They actively defended throughout the match and took advantage of dead ball situations to score goals. However, the problem is that no team can neutralize that style of play.

Greece's defensive style and 1-0 victories were condemned by the rest of the world. The Telegraph described it as "tears streaming down the face of a match". However, as coach Otto Rehhagel explained, the strategy is built based on the "materials" he has. It's not a team of stars, but rather mediocre players playing on little-known teams. Only teamwork and a strict strategy can compensate for those shortcomings.

Criticism spread worldwide, accusing Euro 2004 of being the worst tournament and Greece of being immoral anti-footballers. But the Greeks don't care. The whole country poured into the streets to celebrate the once-in-a-century historic victory. "Ancient Greece had 12 gods, and modern Greece has 11." The heroes landed in the country amid resounding cheers.