Greece stun Portugal to win Euro 2004. In a 1-0 victory over hosts Portugal in the final as they were crowned European champions for the first time. Following the Euro 2004 final match. How 'boring' Greece stunned the world to win Euro 2004. A COUPLE OF DAYS before the final, Greece's squad gathered some chairs together at their training camp and sat down for a team meeting.
Preview
Welcome one and all. Tonight's final of the Euro 2004 sees a repeat of the tournament's opener which Greece won, stunning the hosts and causing the rest of Europe to sit up and take notice in the process. Despite this early setback, Portugal recovered to qualify for the final, eliminating England in a shoot-out on their way. Rank outsiders Greece, available at odds of 100/1 before the tournament started, have continued to amaze and appall the purists with their crude-but-devastatingly-effective tactics.
Their game plan - man-marking, defenders hanging like bats off the crossbar and soaking up as much pressure as possible before catching their tired and frustrated opponents on the break - may offend those of us who like fluid, attacking football, but it's worked so far, helping them to see off France and the Czech Republic, among others. It's safe to say we can except the usual negative tactics tonight, except more of them.
On the team news front - both teams line out as expected, with Stelios Giannakopoulos coming into the Greek side for the suspended Giorgio Karagounis.
Pre-match niceties German referee Markus 'Merky' Merk leads out his funky bunch of linesmen and both teams. Both sides line out for the national anthems, with Portugal in red shirts, green shorts and red socks. Greece wear largely white strips with blue bits. It should go without saying that the stadium walls are bulging. Luis Figo wins the toss and elects to play into the end the majority of Greeks are located in.
1 min: Greece kick-off and launch a long ball up towards the Portugal goal, which Ricardo grabs and punts upfield. Game on.
2 mins: Bolton Wanderer Stelios Giannakopoulos wins the first free-kick of the game, deep inside his own half. Nothing comes of it and Portugal win back possession. For the hosts, Pauleta is playing on his own up front, with Deco operating in behind him. For Greece, Zisis Vryas is the lone front man. Pauleta goes on a surging run down the left flank, but is dispossessed by a fine challenge from Zagorakis.
3 mins: Pauleta chases down a back-pass to Antonis Nikololidis in the Greek goal, but the No1 controls the ball, calmly side-steps him and feeds the ball to Fyssas. Moments later, good interplay between Cristiano Ronaldo and Deco leads to the Manchester United youngster attempting to unleash a piledriver from just outside the Greek box on the left-hand side. It's blocked down.
6 mins: Portugal are exerting all the early pressure, but without looking particularly dangerous. There have been no decent scoring chances for either side yet.
7 mins: On the left wing, Figo attempts to cut into the Portugal box, but is shepherded out towards the sideline by Seitaridis and Kapsis. Eventually, he is forced to settle for a corner from which Greece clear. It was hard-earned.
9 mins: Figo attempts another run down the left wing with the ball on his toe, but Yourkas Seitaridis puts a stop to his gallop again and the ball runs out of play for a goal-kick. Annoyingly good defending - an early goal for Portugal would liven this match up.
11 mins: Free-kick for Greece on the right wing, not far from the Portugal box. Seitaridis swings it in, but Nuno Valente prevents Takis Fyssas from getting a clean header at the far post. Goal-kick. Incidentally, the foul that led to the free-kick saw Costinha pick up the match's first yellow card.
13 mins: In the Greece goal, Antonis Nikopolidis does brilliantly to get down low to his right and tip a low, diagonal, right-footed Miguel drive from distance around his post. Portugal waste two corners in a row, before Greece clear their lines.
15 mins: A cock-up in the Portuguese defence almost lets Angelos Haristeas in to poke the ball home from about 10 yards, but Ricardo thunders off his line and saves bravely. Portugal counter, but Cristiano Ronaldo wastes possession by shooting from a very narrow angle. Despite this, Nikopolidis only grabs his effort on the second attempt.
18 mins: One step-over too many from Cristiano Ronaldo allows Traianos Dellas to tackle him brilliantly on the edge of the Greece box. Young Cristiano had his man beaten and should have got a cross in, but he just couldn't help but over-elaborate. Luckily for you lot, that's not something I could ever be accused of doing.
20 mins: 'I am sat in work doing something that can easily wait till tomorrow, but will need doing regardless,' writes Spencer Brown. 'Should I go to the pub and watch the game, or persist cos it looks as though, on the face of it, it will be the worst final in recent history?'
Well Spencer, according to your email signature you're a big fancy Senior Risk Analyst, so you shouldn't really need me to weigh up your options for you. Having said that, I'd recommend you stay in work and follow the match on your PC. As far as I can tell you're the only person out there reading this, so it would go some way towards justifying my existence, not to mention my enormous wage-packet.
Greece Vs Portugal Euro 2004 Final Full Match Match
23 mins: A Maniche snap-shot from the edge of the penalty area fizzes inches wide of Nikopolidis's right upright. Good effort. With Greece's Scotsman-tight marking of Portugal, you get the impression that a potshot from distance could be Portugal's best chance of scoring.
26 mins: Greece attack down the left and Ricardo is forced to pluck a speculative Fyssas shot/cross out of the air. Moments later, Greece win a free-kick wide on the left. Stelios (as he is known in Bolton, where folk either can't, or are too lazy to, pronounce Giannakopoulos) swings it in and Ricardo rushes off his line to grab the ball off the head of the incoming Zisis Vryas.
29 mins: 'Spencer Brown is not the only person in the office,' writes Andrew Hockley. 'I am too - and my office is in the US, so everybody else is out watching parades of fat old men in fezes drive round in little cars with flags on. I think I'll stay here.'
Working on Independence Day? Bah, humbug!
31 mins: Shock! Horror! Greece are actually mounting a few dangerous looking attacks, mainly down the left. Portugal's defenders are looking a lot more edgy than their Greek counterparts. The Greece back-four is playing superbly. Deco wins a free-kick at the right corner of the Greece penalty area. Figo curls it in, but his cross is way too high for the leaping Crisitano Ronaldo at the far post.
34 mins: On BBC, John Motson makes his first gratuitous mention of David Beckham's free-kick against Greece in that do-or-die World Cup qualifier - an incident that's as irrelevant tonight as Motty's mention was inevitable.
36 mins: Greece win a throw-in about halfway inside the Portugal half. Vryas gets the ball, but is dispossessed on the edge of the penalty area. Neither side is getting any room to manouvre in the other's penalty areas.
38 mins: A weak Katsouranis header trickles harmlessly wide of Ricardo's right upright.
Using Jody Elrod's computer, it says here, a delightfully polite Tim writes in to say that he's reading this too: 'Writing from the chilly desert of Arizona - 107f today - super! Anyway, you kept us in the know at work during so many of the earlier matches that I thought saying hello for the final would be nice. I have the match on the radio world service but for some reason the satellite is bollocksed (bolloxed?) up. So four of us are sitting around a radio like its 1946, except the war in Europe hasn't just ended and Greece are in a major final.'
41 mins: Portugal right-back Miguel has picked up a knock and looks as if he might have to go off. His likely replacement is Ferreira, the young defender who Chelsea paid a gazillion quid for, only to see him play Portugal's first game of the tournament like a member of the public who'd won their place on the national team in a raffle. And on that cue: Ferreira on, Miguel off.
44 mins: Good God this is dull. The Greek fans are making all the noise, while the Portuguese, who are obviously in the majority, appear to have succumbed to narcolepsy. I'm not far off it myself - a goal would be nice. Nuno Valente falls over the ball in his own penalty area. Not a particularly noteworthy occurance, I'll admit, but I have to write something.
44+1 For Greece, Basinas has the yellow card waved in his face after deliberately handling a pass from Ronaldo to Figo. The referee blows for half-time and Greece go in to the dressing room the happier team.
Half-time
Half-time natter: 'Being a risk analyst isn't as exciting as it sounds,' writes Spencer Jones (20 mins), who appears to live in some sort of bizarre fantasy world where people think what he does is exciting. I really hope he's being sarcastic, but traces of irony are conspicuous by their absence from his latest missive.
'So, I've heard Pierluigi Collina is moving to the Premiership (to Chelsea, I presume). Is it true?' writes Arturo Wallace from Washington in two separate emails with different things written in the subject bar. To answer your question Arturo, he's been forced to retire from international and Serie A reffing because of his age, but I don't think he's made up his mind about reffing Premiership games yet.
45 mins: No changes in the second half, which Portugal get underway. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, Benny Wong, eh, wites: 'I am having an over-night shift in office tonight alone, again,' he confesses, bringing a tear to your minute-by-minute reporter's eye. 'I am a football fan and want to thank you guys for reporting the Euro matches on line.' The pleasure is all mine, Benny. Never mind the rest of the guys - they're all ham-fisted dilletante ingrates.
47 mins: Figo wins a throw-in and then gets penalised for a foul throw.
48 mins: Slack marking in the Portugal box leads to a corner for Greece and a frank exchange of views between Portugal team-mates Valente and Costinha. Portugal break and Pauleta cuts into the Greece box from the right and tries a shot. Almost inevitably, Fyssas pops up to block his effort.
50 mins: A Pauleta cross is cut out by Dellas. Portugal are enduring rather than enjoying plenty of possession. The Greek defence looks completely impenetrable. Forgot to mention in my last dispatch that Deco flung himself to the ground in the Greek penalty area in search of penalty. The referee wasn't fooled, but chose not to book him.
53 mins: The camera focuses on the Prime Minister of Portugal. A woman beside him, who could well be his wife, is frantically waving a Portugal flag. I was going to write that I couldn't imagine Cherie Blair doing that, but I suppose I can. Maniche shapes to shoot from just outside the Greek box, but before he can pull the trigger, Stelios steals in from behind and nicks the ball.
56 mins: Portugal 0 - 1 Greece In the 56th minute, the only underdogs in history that everyone wants to see get beaten, score from their very first corner of the match. Slack Portugal marking allows Angelos Haristeas scores with a straightforward header from about eight yards, with Ricardo caught in no-man's land.
59 mins: Ronaldo shoots from the edge of the Greece penalty area and Nikopolidis can only parry his effort out to the right. Portugal win a free on the left wing which is sent over the bar. Portugal substitution: Rui Costa for Costinha.
61 mins: 'Since you're reading email and seem to bored, can you tell us what the white stuff in/on this Cristiano Ronaldo's ears is?' asks Bambi, who may or may not be a cute fawn. Those white things, Bambi, are sticking plasters to cover his earrings. And before you ask, I have no idea why he doesn't just take them out before the game either.
63 mins: Greece only half-clear a poor Pauleta cross and the ball falls to Figo. He cuts inside the Greece penalty area, but his low drive from right to left doesn't really trouble Nikopolidis. Greece counter and a great ball over the top from Zagorakis leaves Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo horribly exposed. He does well to tidy up the mess under pressure from two Greek attackers.
66 mins: Portugal win a corner, it's swung in by Figo and Dellas heads clear. The French centre-half immediately waves his fellow defenders out of the box before the ball can be swung in again.
67 mins: Portugal win a free-kick on the right wing which is lobbed straight into Nikopolidis's air-space. The goalkeeper grabs it gratefully. Interestingly, Andrade had come up for it and as the ball came into the box, his marker was quite literally hanging out of him: chin on Andrade's shoulder, arms around him and a fist-full of shirt just for good measure. Shouldn't that be a penalty?
69 mins: Portugal win another couple of corners, which Greece deal with easily.
70 mins: 'Trapped in the office finishing off the best alternative guidebook to a city ever,' writes Andrew Losowsky in Barcelona. 'If you point that the L****l G***e will change your life, I'll buy you a falafel and a glass of port.' A falafel? A glass of port? You tight git! I don't come that cheap Andrew - you'll have to up the payola ante considerably to get your tome's name mentioned. Portugal substitution: Nuno Gomes for Pauleta.
74 mins: A great run by Ronaldo sees him through on goal with only Nikopolidis to beat. However, his first touch takes him away from goal, allows Nikopolidis time to thunder towards him and the young Portuguese skies his effort way over the bar.
76 mins: Greece substitution: Stelios Giannakopoulos off, Venetidis on. Now, here's a sentence I thought I'd never type: Greece are 13 minutes away from winning the European Championships.
77 mins: The Greek defence pushes out, leaving Cristiano Ronaldo stranded in an offside position. He subsequently chests down Maniche's delightful pass and turns to shoot, but concedes the free for offside. Greece are defending brilliantly.
79 mins: Cristiano Ronaldo shoots way over the Greece bar from the left-corner of the penalty area.
80 mins: Nikopolidis can only parry a long-range Maniche effort, but no Portugal forwards are on hand to feed on the scraps. Greece substitution: Papadopoulos for Vryas.
82 mins: Figo gets the ball on the edge of the Greece penalty area, shapes for a shot and is relieved of the ball by two burly defenders. He sits on the ground looking bewildered, as if to say: 'What the hell do we have to do to get past you pair?'
84 mins: Papadopoulos gets booked for a rash challenge. Meanwhile, Benny writes from Hong Kong again: 'Barry, my girlfriend once told me the earrings are gifts from Ronaldo's mother. Ronaldo believes the earrings bring him fortune,' he explains. I suppose it sounds feasible enough, although they haven't brought him much luck tonight.
85 mins: A nutter wearing a red hat and a Jimmy Jump t-shirt runs on to the pitch waving a Barcelona flag. He throws it at Luis Figo, out-runs about five or six stewards, salutes the crowd with a clenched fist and hurls himself into the back of the Greek goal, getting tangled up in the net in the process. An assortment of stewards and coppers pick him out of it and cart him away.
Greece Vs Portugal Euro 2004 Final Full Match Download
88 mins: Figo receives the ball in the Greece box with his back to goal. He turns and shoots, but his low drive whistles inches wide.
Greece Vs Portugal Euro 2004 Final Full Match Game
90 mins: For Portugal, Jorge Andrade heads over the bar. There will be five minutes of added time.
Greece Vs Portugal Euro 2004 Final Full Match
90+2 mins: Greece have possession, and I'm told the aforementioned pitch invader has his own homepage. You can find it here, writes Kim Gammelgaard.
90+3 mins: Nuno Valente gets yellow for a stupid, needless foul, which gifts possession to the Greeks. Portugal look beaten, while the Greeks look as if they could stay running all night - this wasn't in the script.
90+5 mins: Peep! Peep! Peep! Unfathomable as it might seem, Greece have won the European Championships. Their players and fans are delirious with happiness, while the atmosphere elsewhere in the stadium is understandably muted. Cristiano Ronaldo is just one of many Portugal players bawling his eyes out. It's worth remembering that before this competition, Greece had never, ever won a match in the finals of a major football tournament.
Presentation: A clearly displeased Eusebio helps present the Portugal side with their losers' medals, before the Greek squad and management team come on to the podium to riff on his obvious anguish. Various players kiss the trophy after getting their medals, before Theodoris Zagorakis accepts the trophy. Cue: An explosion of blue and white ticker-tape and the usual footballer delirium that accompanies such occasions. Right - that's me done for another tournament - I'm off for a lie-down. Thanks for your time and your emails and enjoy what's left of the summer.
Greece Vs Portugal Euro 2004
The teams
Portugal (4-5-1): 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 16-Ricardo Carvalho, 4-Jorge Andrade, 14-Nuno Valente; 6-Costinha, 18-Maniche, 20-Deco, 7-Luis Figo, 17-Cristiano Ronaldo; 9-Pauleta.
Subs: Moreira, Quim, Couto, Beto, Nuno Gomes, Paulo Ferreira, Petit, Postiga, Rui Costa, Rui Jorge, Simao, Tiago.
Greece (4-4-2): 1-Antonis Nikopolidis; 2-Yourkas Seitaridis, 19-Michalis Kapsis, 5-Traianos Dellas 14-Takis Fyssas; 8-Stelios Giannakopoulos, 7-Theodoros Zagorakis, 6-Angelos Basinas, 21-Costas Katsouranis; 15-Zisis Vryzas, 9-Angelos Haristeas.
Subs: Chalkias, Katergiannakis, Dabizas, Georgiadis, Goumas, Kafes, Lakis, Papadopoulos, Tsiartas, Venetidis.
Euro 2008
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)
Linesmen: Jan-Hendrik Salver (Germany), Christian Schraer (Germany)
Kick-off 7:45pm GMT