it's all greek to me

how can it not? the greeks have just won euro2004. the team that has never won ANY major tournament. i guess there's always the first time for everything.

here's an article from soccernet i copy-pasted:

CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE
It's as if you still can't make any sense of it. Three weeks ago we had never won a match in a major tournament. How did it come to this?

As I pondered before the match how the dream would end in just a couple hours, I became upset knowing that it would all be over soon and that the ride that our boys took us on would soon come to an end. The dream was coming to a close.

Then, these heroes, go out and win the final. They beat Portugal on their own grass (again) and lift the trophy. Suddenly, all Greeks worldwide, including me, realized that the dream wasn't over, it had only just begun!

JOY
After the final whistle, the Greeks celebrated like no other time. Nearly 300,000 people were in and around Omonia square in Athens. I distinctly remembered the commentator on Greek TV speak about how he's never seen so many people crying, tears of joy.

All of Greece was a sea of blue and white flags. It can't be said enough, people with no affiliation to football, or mere liking of it were out on the streets waving their flag. After all, it's more than the football isn't it, now it's about Greece, the Champions of Europe.

OUR FINAL TO REMEMBER
There was always a confidence about our side in the Final. Portugal were certainly dangerous in the first half, but so weren't we on the break. 0-0 at halftime was probably a fair score and it looked like the team that wanted the match more would come out on top.

After weathering the first half storm, the boys came out swinging in the second half. Something must be said about Seitaridis and Fyssas, our two outside backs, who represent so much of an attacking threat for us. It was Seitaridis in the 57th minute who broke down the right flank and won a corner.

Now I am not sure about divine intervention and all that, but isn't it a little weird that what happened next was conjured up by two players with the name Angelos (Angel)!?

Angelos Basinas crossed for Angelos Charisteas whose beautiful header found the net. 1-0 to Greece. A great goal, even though all Portuguese must be asking, "What was Ricardo doing?" After that goal we sat back more than my heart would have liked, though we also showed some steely determination.

Otto's team has become a stubborn bunch, a team that prides itself on not giving anything away cheaply. And they didn't. Though there were still 33 minutes plus injury time remaining after the Charisteas' goal, I had the feeling that we wouldn't give one up. We had come too far now to lose this.

For the neutral it probably wasn't the greatest final. It was tense and exciting at times but probably too short on chances and all-out action. Then again if your team is in a final, I have come to realize that you don't care so much what sort of game it is, your goal is to win the title and do so even it means doing it in a not so fashionable way.

How did we do it?
As every Greek takes a break from the all-night celebrations and attempts to recover from the over-abundance of dancing, cheering, and ouzo, there is a question that is popping up occasionally, one that I have even asked. As Zagorakis lifted the trophy and we were crowned European champions, I asked my dad, "How did we do it?" Full of pride and not wanting to take his eyes off the screen, he shrugged at first and then said, "That's why you play, to win. They believed it."

He was right, they believed it. This Greek team had heart, soul, and was resilient. But most of all perhaps after the Portugal game, they started to believe. They played better teams and beat them. Of course, we must commend Otto Rehagel for his impact. Without his tactics and motivation surely we wouldn't have got this far, but ultimately it's down to the players to work it out on the pitch.

You might of thought we were cocky, the way our players looked across and saw the likes of Luis Figo, Thierry Henry, Zinedine Zidane, and Pavel Nedved and still thought they could win. Some asked what right the Greeks had to be here. In the end, the Greeks showed they had every right. They believed they could do it and this belief along with the other amazing attributes of this side propelled the team from rank outsiders to European champions.

Thank You Greece
In order to defeat some teams you have to make sure their stars are not a factor. Mark Zidane out of the game and you have already done half the job against the French, get Figo frustrated and he no longer becomes Portugal's talisman. Greece had and still has no real stars. Not to undermine Zidane's or Figo's importance and their rich contributions to their teams, but in some cases it's better to not have the "big name." In order to defeat Greece in Euro 2004, a team had to defeat all 11 of us. Our strength was in the collective, not the individual. When Basinas pulled a Figo and visibly showed his frustration when taken off against the Czechs you almost knew that he was just upset to come off, he like the rest of the team knew that no one was irreplaceable to a certain degree. Dellas, Zagorakis, Seitaridis, Kapsis, Charisteas, Karagounis have all become well-known in this tournament, but the fact remains that Greece have lots of good players, when put together in the right way like Rehagel did only then does the team become a side that is better than good, a team that can achieve great things.

And so it is time for congratulations. Congratulations to the Greek National Team, not only European Champions, but despite what "footballing stylists" say, worthy European Champions. Winning Euro 2004 is perhaps the country's greatest ever sporting achievement and it will be a win that is celebrated for years, for ages to come. We have become perhaps the greatest-ever Cinderella story in international football history, only the 1992 Danes could possibly challenge us in that department. From storekeepers in Alexandroupoli in Northern Greece, to my pappou (grandfather) in Pefkofito in Central Greece, to all the crazy Athenians, to the island-dwellers and hoppers, to olive growers in the Peloponessus, to the fishers in Crete and Rhodes, to Greeks all over the world in Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, California, Chicago, New York, Boston, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, London, Munich, and everywhere else, this win fills every Greek with pride and will be a victory that will never be forgotten, to be retold to all the generations to come like the Greek myths. Except that this "Greek Myth" was not made-up, it was a story about the most unlikely dream that became a beautiful reality.

Geia sou!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Soccernet, the readers of this column, and all Greeks around the world. In order to become a Soccernet fan correspondent you must submit a fantasy piece about your team. Mine had Greece beating France in the Euro 2004 final. I didn't think I would have a chance at either, writing on this site or Greece winning the title. Amazing what can happen though, eh? I would like to thank Soccernet for this opportunity, which was very fulfilling in a number of ways. As an aspiring writer, these articles have helped me reach a huge audience and I am quite grateful for that (BTW- readers of this column contacting Soccernet to give me a regular job wouldn't be such a bad thing!). The most joy I have received though is not only getting my words out for people to see, but in communicating with the readers of this column. The emails have numbered in the hundreds, which I would have never fathomed. Your emails have come from Greece, Australia, the USA, Germany, England, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Canada, South Korea, Mexico, Somalia, and Uganda. It has been inspiring to read all of them. I thank you for all the kind words about my writing, but more so about the passion that all you Greeks, and non-Greeks, had in following our team's march to the final. I didn't realize the Greek heart beat so loudly and proudly in all these corners of the earth. It's been amazing. I thank you Soccernet readers for all your input, your words of encouragement and inspiration, indeed my Euro 2004 experience was made that much better thanks to all of you. Perhaps I will speak to you again sooner or later, maybe for the 2006 World Cup...the Greeks are already asking for Brazil in the final!!! hehe I bid you farewell in what has been a wonderful ride. ZITO ELLAS! LONG-LIVE GREECE! The world is now invited to the Olympic Games this summer. This wonderful Greek summer, which began with Greece winning the European Championship and will end with the greatest ever Olympic Games.