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MODERN GREEK MYTHOLOGY (EURO '04 ROUND UP) - by Rajat Subhra Banerjee
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EURO 2004 Champions – GREECE. Sounds impossible, when the sport is football. I always thought mythology was adapted from the Bengali "mithye kotha." What happened yesterday in Lisbon, Portugal seemed like a dream, but there was nothing "mithye" about it. Ancient Greece is full of fables, as the match commentator Martin Tyler reminded us. Names of fabulous heroes like Hercules, Achilles, Odysseus, Theseus readily come to mind. In the sporting context there was Philippides the Marathon man. Now modern Greece has a fable to match them all.
So Greece are the European football Champions, at least for the next 4 years. Did they deserve the title? I'd like to think they did. None of the `experts' even considered them a probability in the beginning, but that is not the Greeks' fault. They did win their group in qualification, ahead of mighty Spain. There they won 6 of their 8 matches, including a 1-0 win over Spain in Spain. That should have given us a warning, but it didn't! In the finals they were still expected to take the wooden spoon in their group, behind Spain, Portugal and Russia. It was then that the real fun began.
When Greece beat Portugal in the first match, it was a true upset. However, we felt that Portugal were under tremendous pressure to perform before their fans, and the Greeks were a bit lucky to catch them off guard. Then against Spain they were surely lucky. The Spaniards were leading 1-0 and seemingly coasting to victory and the quarterfinals when a late equaliser earned Greece a point. It was the first strike in the finals for Angelos Charisteas. It also showed the resilient spirit of this Greek side. Finally, against Russia they were 2 down in no time, and were definitely lucky to escape with a 1-2 defeat. However, that one goal they scored was enough to carry them to the quarterfinals, ahead of hapless Spain.
Already Greece, and their remarkable German coach Otto Rehhagel, had achieved something wonderful. They had never in the past won a single match in any major football championship finals. Now they were in the EURO quarterfinals. But surely even the Greeks themselves didn't believe that they could win against the free flowing French, the defending champions, the team of super stars led by the mercurial Zinedine Zidane, probably the best all-round footballer of his generation. Greece would fight, we knew that by then, but surely they would go under.
Well, the Greeks proved us wrong, once again. They played with tremendous self-belief. The players were in no way cowed down by giant reputations. They frustrated France in the beginning. With quick tackling and astute positional play they prevented the French from displaying their artistry. And then they counter-attacked. One such foray got them the goal – Charisteas again, strike two, after some wonderful work by the inspirational captain Theodoros Zagorakis on the right wing. Then they defended dourly, with Traianos Dellas and Mihalis Kapsis outstanding in the heart of the defence, backed by the ice-cool Antionios Nikopolaidis in goal. The French prima donnas huffed and puffed, but the modern Greek heroes held on with some degree of comfort. Suddenly the match was over, Greece were in the semis, France, the favourites, were out.
Now Greece were up against the form team, the Czech Republic. At last the Greek roller coaster ride was coming to an end, Nedved and his talented team would surely give them a thrashing, considering the manner in which they had won all their group matches. The match started with almost total Czech domination. Rosicky hit the bar, Koller went close, but somehow the goal never came. Slowly but surely the Greeks came back into the game and were soon matching the Czechs move for move. However, there were no goals at full time and we went into extra time. Now the Greeks looked the stronger team, with Stylianos Giannakopoulos going agonisingly close on two occasions. Then in the dying seconds of the first extra period, Greece got a corner. Dellas rose like a Phoenix from the defence to head in the `silver' goal which turned into a `golden' goal because of its timing. The impossible was achieved, the Czechs were beaten. Greece was in the EURO 2004 Final!
Here at last the fairy tale must surely end, we thought. Portugal was authoring their own fairy tale to be in the Final in their home country. They had not lost an international match in Lisbon since 1987. Under Scolari they had in fact won all their Lisbon matches. Destiny was beckoning. Yes, the Greeks did beat them in the opening match, but Portugal had improved immensely since that night. Surely they would end this Greek adventure with ease. No host nation had ever lost an European Championship Final. Moreover, Greece would miss their most creative midfielder, Giorgios Karagounis of Inter Milan from Italy's Serie A, out with 2 yellow cards in the 2 previous matches. It was Karagounis who got the first goal against Portugal in the opener to set the fairy tale going and was their most visible player in the other matches. Surely without him it would all be too much for Greece.
But Greece has a football team in the strictest sense of the word. And football is a team game, as the cliché goes. One Individual should not make or break a good team. And so it followed. Greece came out in a far more attacking vein than what has been seen before, and in that they must have surprised the Portuguese. The first half was an exciting game of to and fro football, with the Greeks looking equal to the task. Then in the second half it was that man Charisteas who headed in Greece's goal – strike three. Never before has a man scored three more critical goals for his team in a major championship. And then the Greeks did what they do best, defend strongly and frustrate the opposition into petulance and misery. At the final whistle Ronaldo's tears said it all. It was heart-breaking for the Portuguese and their many fans, but it was sheer magic for the Greeks all over the world.
Thus Greece won Europe in the summer of 2004. For generations this legend will enrich the Greek nation. They are going to host the small matter of the Olympic Games in a short while, but all that is mundane at the moment. Now it is King Otto and his merry men who shall enjoy the adulation of an ancient Nation shorn of heroes for centuries and centuries. And we, mere mortals, shall marvel at the achievement of a football team that displayed the merits of possessing large hearts and getting the basics right. All `minnows' in international sport shall take heart from their performance and achievement. All in all, it was a splendid manifestation of every schoolboy's dream.
Thank you, Greece.
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