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| Europe |
| Host Portugal shocked in Euro 2004 final as Greeks win 1-0 |
| 2004-07-05 |
| Greece won the European Championship in one of the biggest upsets in soccer history, beating host Portugal 1-0 in the final Sunday on Angelos Charisteas’ 57th-minute header off a corner. The Greeks had never won a game at a major tournament before arriving at Euro 2004 but wound up twice beating the Portuguese, ousting defending champion France 1-0 in the quarterfinal and then beating hot favorite Czech Republic 1-0 in the semis. Some 15,000 Greek fans in the Stadium of Light erupted when German referee Markus Merk blew the final whistle. Some of the Greek players collapsed on the turf while others hugged their German coach Otto Rehhagel as he ran onto the pitch. "What happened here is that the Greek team wrote soccer history," Rehhagel said. "I hope this reverberates in Greece. I hope when we get into Athens on Monday, there will be incredible scenes." EFL Congratulations, Aris. I’m sure your country is celebrating their unexpected achievement in fine fashion. My Australian net buddies say that Melboure is lit up all over with Greek pride. Your country’s win was quite the Cinderella act and something worth noticing. Best Wishes, Zenster |
| Posted by:Zenster |
| #12 I agree with Frank G, Soccer is not all it's cracked up to be. I make an exception though for those great international tournaments. The regular league games bore me but I love watching the World Cup, Euro, etc. There is definitely something cool about those huge festivals - especially when the game is a good one and not a 0-0 tie. England vs. Portugal was awesome. |
| Posted by: Prince Abdullah 2004-07-05 7:07:47 PM |
| #11 LOL!! |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-07-05 2:32:29 PM |
| #10 Except when the Israeli biathlon team's nearby |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-05 2:29:31 PM |
| #9 "Do you think the Jihadists are good at anything, besides the 100m RPG shoot 'n' sprint???" Raf, I'd let them enter the Olympics and get the new sport of "Rock Throwing" started. They'd win every time. |
| Posted by: Jarhead 2004-07-05 2:27:18 PM |
| #8 If only grievances were settled with a good game of [insert your sport here]. Do you think the Jihadists are good at anything, besides the 100m RPG shoot 'n' sprint??? |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-07-05 1:50:55 PM |
| #7 WTF - how can you play Football without your hands. Pussies ;-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-07-05 1:38:16 PM |
| #6 I love "sports discussions" - they always end in mutual understanding, bettering mankind, and singing kumbahya... :-) |
| Posted by: .com 2004-07-05 1:33:38 PM |
| #5 It was a matter of Portugal not showing up for the game. And those that did thought they were supermen, eg. Deco (trying to copy Maniche). Why didn't Scolari start Nuno Gomes, Postiga??? It was Rui Costa's last international so of course he had to play in the final, even though he did absolutely nothing in the whole tournament for them. Ronaldo had some good chances, finally, but too late. The Greeks had no pressure on them whatsoever throughout the tournament. Every team expected to beat them. This, combined with some luck, we have the result: the Greeks are European champions. And that's all that matters :) |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-07-05 1:31:06 PM |
| #4 Hey, if anyone was 'bunged' it was Urst Meier - ref for England vs. Portugal. An officious ref indeed but thought the Greeks did a good job of 'strangling' the game and ultimately outplaying the Portugese. Greece as deserved winners for me. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-07-05 7:41:10 AM |
| #3 I lost $100 on that match. The game was fixed. The referee was bought. As soon as Portugal touched the ball he blew the whistle. Referee was German and so was the coach on the Greek team. Enuf said :p |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-07-05 7:33:32 AM |
| #2 Thank you, both of you. :-) Just a tiny bit of a hangover. Still no ouzo, but enough wine for that. Primitive tribalism though this may be, in cases of celebration and fun that's not very objectionable I think. :-) |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-07-05 5:11:39 AM |
| #1 It's a beautiful game. Aris, I trust you have one hell of a hangover this morning - don't let it stop your countrymen getting on with that nice stadium, now! Congratulations! |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-07-05 4:50:06 AM |