How Did Greece Win The 2004 UEFA Euros?

Looking back, 2004 was quite the year, wasn’t it? Spiderman 2 came out, a certified classic, in my opinion. George Bush was elected to his second term and Lance Armstrong won his 6^th consecutive tour de France…

But that’s not all. if we take things back to football, the craziness only amplifies further. For example, Arsenal became invincible, and Porto won the Champions league.

Okay, maybe let’s backtrack a little bit. Arsenal’s invincible side was packed with talent. The fact that they never lost was astounding, but not out outside of the realm of possibility.

Similarly, although Porto weren’t considered favourites, Jose Mourinho carefully curated a competitive team that was fit for cup glory. They had already been dominating the Liga Nos at the time and they even won the UEFA Cup one season prior to this one.

Having said all of that, something that absolutely nobody expected to happen, even at the time, was Greece winning the 2004 UEFA European Championship. To say the story of how this happened is interesting would be putting it mildly.

And if you’re a curious soul like me, how about joining me while we explore exactly what led to Greece lifting the coveted trophy. In doing so, hopefully we’ll be able to answer the question of the day:

Just how exactly did Greece win the 2004 UEFA Euros?

Before we really dig into the tournament itself, I thought it might be worthwhile to build a bit of context. Let’s take a step back and start our story a few short years prior to the finals in Portugal.

Table of Contents

Greatness from small beginnings

The year is 2001.

Our story begins with arguably one of the most iconic goals in World Cup qualifier history. The only thing is the goal wasn’t scored by Greece.

Instead, in the final round of matches in Group 9 of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, England were matched up against Greece in what was deemed to be a make-or-break match for the English.

And with 92 minutes played in the match, England were down by 2 goals to 1. All hope seemed lost.

That is until David Beckham essentially grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck and dragged England over the line, scoring in the 93^rd minute to make the game 2-2. This draw sent England to the World Cup finals, as group leaders and solidified David Beckham as an undisputed national hero.

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Although, this turned out to count for very little, as England were knocked out of the tournament at the quarter final stage, by Brazil, the eventual winners.

And while we’re on the subject, I just want to clear up any misconceptions. Even though this goal did secure qualification for England, they still would’ve had the chance to qualify for the World cup in the playoff rounds, had they not scored an equaliser.

In fact, some even feel that had Beckham not scored this goal, England would’ve won the whole thing. I mean, it’s entirely possible, I guess.

But let’s not get side-tracked. That’s not what this story is about.

As far as Greece were concerned, there wasn’t really much to play for in this match. They were already out of contention for qualifying for the World Cup, having lost the majority of their qualifying matches.

And, if we’re all being honest here; this wasn’t surprising in the slightest. Despite a near 100-year history in international competition, at the time, the Greek national team had only ever qualified for a major tournament twice; the 1980 UEFA Euros, and the 1994 World Cup.

In addition to that, and perhaps, more importantly, they had never even won a single game in any of these tournaments. Essentially what I’m trying to say is that nobody thought very much of them.

At this point, you may be asking “but then why bring up this qualifying match against England?”. Well, like I previously said, Greece had lost the majority of their qualifying matches. As a matter of fact, their performances were so bad that the coach at the time, Vasilis Daniil was ceremonially given the boot and replaced by the highly renowned German, Otto Rehhagel.

A man that was known by several as a cunning tactician, as well as a stern disciplinarian.

This match against England was only his second game in charge of Greece. And while it may have counted for nothing, there were a handful of significant signs that indicated that this man may been on to something.

After grabbing the lead against the English, Greece did a stellar job at reverting to their tactical shape and snuffing out every English chance throughout the match. If not for a foul on Teddy Sheringham in the twilight of the match, they may well have ended up victorious.

Unite for a common goal

Moving along only a few years later, and Greece seemed like an entirely different team. Their unity and overall togetherness was truly a sight to behold. But there was a reason for this.

In an interview, Greece’s first choice left back, Takis Fyssas, once stated that the first thing that their German coach told them was that “The national team had to come first”. Not the most thought-provoking words at first glance, but when you dive deeper, the meaning starts to take shape.

You see, at the time, on a domestic level, Greek football was rife with othering. Players were extremely closely associated with their clubs, be it Olympiakos, Panathanaikos or AEK Athens. Rehhagel immediately identified that this was an area in need of improvement if his vision for the team was to be fulfilled.

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Another thing you need to understand is that the pool of players that Greece had to choose from wasn’t nearly as plentiful as that of the more conventionally dominant European nations. While several other nations had upwards of 40 or 50 talented and capable players to choose from, Greece only really had plus or minus 20.

But that wasn’t all. Not to take anything away from the technical abilities of the Greek players, after all they were professional athletes, they didn’t boast a Zinedine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo or Wayne Rooney in their ranks. While they did possess some fine talent, they were surely lacking in star power.

Taking these limitations into account, it becomes incredibly clear why a sense of unity and togetherness was of the essence. These players had to trust in each other 100%.

2004 UEFA Euro qualification

By the time that the 2004 Euro qualification rounds came about, this philosophy, this sense of unity had already been deeply embedded in the psyche of the Greek national team.

After losing their first two matches of the qualifying rounds, they went on to have a very impressive run that notably saw them beat the Spanish national team, in Spain.

Now at this point, you may be thinking, “yeah, it’s all good and well to state that these guys had done a complete 180, but how did they actually do this”. The answer to that is simple: Tactical genius.

Understanding the limitations that his squad had Rehhagel constantly tinkered with the squad to make sure they were completely prepared to tackle the team’s they faced in a way that neutralized each of their specific strengths. This meant that, going into each game, their tactical approach was always uniquely catered towards each opponent. But at the same time, the team did have a quote unquote baseline approach to each match.

Team tactics

This is, more or less, how the Greece national side lined up going into the tournament.

They essentially exclusively played in a 433 formation. Kostas Katsouranis played in the destroyer role as the deepest of the midfield three. Angelos Basinas and Theodoros Zagorakis made up the remainder of the midfield.

Giorgios Karagounis and Angelos Charisteas made up the wide players in the Greek attack with Stelios Giannakopoulos playing in that left sided position at varying points too.

When defending, for the most part, this team was built around strict and rigid man-marking, with a hint of zonal marking. Each player was given a specific member of the opposition to track throughout the match, with these opposing players being selected according to the specific scenario. However, the Greek players wouldn’t simply follow their man across the pitch.

For example, when the fullbacks, Takis Fyssas and Georgios Seitaridis were marking the opposing winger and their man drifted far infield, at a certain point, this player would be picked up by Katsouranis and the fullback would drop deep to keep the shape of the defensive line and prevent opening up a channel for the opposing fullbacks to break into.

Speaking of the opposing fullbacks, Greece’s wide midfielders were tasked with blocking their runs and essentially marking them out of the game. This saw these players often dropping deep, making the formation resemble something more like a 451 than a 433 at times.

In terms of the lone striker, which was usually, Zisis Vryzas, he would be tasked with hassling the opposition destroyer or holding midfielder. And even further, the way that Greece was set up allowed for them to always have a free man in the heart of their defence who wasn’t given specific man-marking duties. A sweeper. That man was Traianos Dellas.

In attack, you’ve probably guessed already. This team was reliant on the transition. They primarily looked to build counter attacks through pressure on the wide areas and strong headers of the ball in both attack and defence. The wide men in attack would drift into the pitch to cause the opposing centre backs trouble and the fullbacks would venture forward on occasion to offer support.

I hope you weren’t expecting a long-winded analysis on their attacking play. Because, realistically, that’s about it. Fundamentally, this team was built on rock solid defence, and the astute determination from each man to carry out the duties that they were tasked with.

Back to the actual Greece team, I do want to stress that the team did possess technical talent here and there. This was prevalent in players such as playmaker Vasilios Tsiartas, whom I haven’t mentioned as of yet, but who was mostly used as a substitute. However, man for man, this team just wasn’t capable of going toe to toe with the Europe’s quote unquote elite. Which is ironic considering how the actual tournament went.

Having said that, let’s get into the tournament itself.

The 2004 UEFA Euros

Group stages

Despite all that I’ve previously said, many were still unconvinced of Greece’s chance. They were labelled as the second least likely team to win the whole thing with odds of 150-1. And to be fair, even the Greeks didn’t think they stood much of a chance.

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Going into the tournament, they were just happy to be involved. Their number one goal was simply to win one match. Just one.

However, this was going to prove tougher than they might’ve thought. Unfortunately, they were placed in a very tough group.

Spain, Portugal, Russia.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Greece was tasked with taking centre stage in the very first match of the tournament. Against the hosts, Portugal.

But let’s be real here. Portugal were the hosts, they had some serious fire power in their ranks, and remember, Greece had never won even a single match in a major tournament up to this point. Pretty much everything was in the host’s favour. So, what are we saying? Easy dub for the Portuguese, right?

While you would definitely be in the majority if that was your prediction, the Greeks had other ideas. After scoring twice, Portugal failed to find their way back, with the match ending 2-1 in favour of Greece.

And just like that – History was made. A tournament upset right off the bat. And even further to that, Greece had achieved their goal. They had won a match in a major tournament. Job done. Time to pack it up and head home, right?

Wrong. The night of this historic victory, it’s been reported that nobody from the Greek national team slept even a wink. Their bodies still in shock, while they listened to a Greek national radio station hearing how they had been received back home. This was only the beginning.

They followed this match up with yet another upset, drawing against Spain, one of the tournament favourites, the next time they took to the pitch.

And in the final match of the group stages, they lost to Russia. This meant that a draw in Spain and Portugal’s last match would be enough to send Greece back home. Coincidentally, luck was on their side. Portugal scored a winner that made them the eventual group winner and Greece managed to sneak in the quarter finals, by the closest of margins. They beat Spain to second place, not on goal difference, but due to the fact that they had scored more goals, period.

Quarter Finals – France

Although this was a cause for celebration, all joy was surely lost when they realised who they would be playing in the quarter finals: the current holders, France. Zidane, Henry, Lizarazu, Makélélé. That France. A very tall task, indeed.

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What followed next was a statement. Nothing more, nothing less. With a game plan that was focussed more or less on marking Thierry Henry out the game, Greece ended up with a 1-0 victory with Charisteas scoring in the 65^th minute. If ever there was a moment to start believing in miracles, now was that moment.

Semi Finals – Czech Republic

Although, at this point, Greece had done very little to win the hearts of… Well, just about everyone other than those of Greek decent. The opposition fans weren’t impressed, Neutrals weren’t impressed, very few people were impressed.

Their mostly negative, defensive playstyle was undoubtedly causing a bit of a stir. Over the course of the tournament in one of Greece’s match reports, the Guardian even referred to them as “the only underdogs in history who everyone wants to see get beaten”. Ouch.

In contrast, their semi final opponents were renowned as the most positive team in the tournament. A Czech Republic side headed up by Pavel Nedved, Milan Baros and Jan Koller. A team that had gone through the Netherlands and Germany in group stages and then Denmark in the quarter finals.

All the same, Greece stood firm.

The match went into extra time goalless and Traianos Dellas scored the only goal of the game just before the end of the first half of extra time.

Interestingly enough, this goal was more significant than you would think. This goal represented essentially the only scenario where the silver goal ruling was used. An alternative to the golden goal ruling where the first goal scored in extra time ends the game and awards the victory to the winning team immediately. In the silver goal ruling, if a team scores a goal in extra time and it is the only goal scored in that specific half of extra time, then the game is concluded at the end of that half. This was essentially a more lenient version of the golden goal that gave team’s a bite more a chance to make a comeback.

However, the goal scored by Greece was scored at the very end of the first half of extra time. Essentially, the Czech Republic had close to zero chance to come back after this, as the match ended a few seconds after the Dellas goal.

I’m not sure if you recall me uttering the word miracle earlier on.

The final- Portugal

At this point in time, if you’re one of those Greek players, it’s incredibly difficult to feel as though this isn’t some sort of manifestation of destiny. The stars had aligned and whatever black magic they’d been practising had surely been doing the trick.

All that was left was for them to go out there and finish the job.

But one last opponent stood in the way. As fate would have it, this opponent was rather familiar. A revitalised Portugal team had made it to the finals of the competition held in their very own country.

In a lot of way, their story up to that point reflected one with a few fairy-tale aspects too. After losing their opening match to one of the overwhelming underdogs, they topped their group, battled their way through England’s golden generation, then Netherlands and looked to be in the perfect position to not only win the whole thing, but exact revenge on the team that gave them such a large initial shock.

And when the match started, the front four of Figo, Ronaldo, Deco and Pauleta went to work at doing just that. Piling on the pressure and looking dangerous whenever they ventured forward.

But I guess no one gave Angelos Charisteas the memo. Despite the odds being in Portugal’s favour, Charisteas scored what was essentially a trademark 2004 European Championship Greek goal in the 57^th minute. A cross from the right, a header passed the keeper. In this tournament alone, we’d seen Greece score that goal several times over.

Greece held on, and the rest is history. Perhaps the biggest underdog story in the history of European football had been completed.

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The aftermath

Understandably, in the aftermath of this victory, many many people were um less than pleased. The Telegraph even stated in the wake of this upset that “A tear flowed down the face of the beautiful game”. Now that’s a bit dramatic, but they definitely weren’t alone in feeling this way. And perhaps they were justified in doing so.

Greece didn’t produce the eye-catching, glittering football that neutrals and die hards have come to appreciate from knockout football. They defended relentlessly and still hold the record for the champions with the lowest number of goals scored per match. Although, if you have any association with Greece in the slightest, I’m fairly certain you couldn’t care less.

But even further to that, one of the main fears from the tournament, was that if Greece showed that playing this way could result in a positive outcome, what would stop others from doing the same in future in an attempt to reproduce these results?

I guess the obvious answer to this question is, well, nothing. And, I hate answering a question with a question, but the even more obvious answer to this question is, if it’s that easy, why don’t we see more teams doing this. Moreover, why haven’t more teams reached the heights that this Greece team did?

And the answer to that question is also obvious. Simply put, this team was special. The players, the manager, the unity. This was the perfect combination to go out and achieve greatness.

In his book, Zonal Marking, Michael Cox refers to Greece’s performances in this tournament as “the tactical achievement of the decade”. England, Portugal, Sweden, the Czech Republic, all nations that who brought quintessential golden generations with them to Portugal. However, at the end of the day, Greece stood above them all.

The tactical prowess of their head coach and the undying resolve of the players and backroom staff led to Greece pulling off what is, quite possibly, the biggest upset in football history.