Greece crowned European champion

Euro 2004 concludes with Greek myth

Thanks to Charisteas Angelos's second half goal, Greece beat Portugal 1-0 to win the European Championship on July 4, their first major international trophy.

"It was an unusual achievement for Greek football and especially for European football. The team played great football,"said Greece coach Otto Rehhagel, who became Greece national hero after guiding their team to make history.

The first phase of the final of Euro 2004 saw a slightly dominant Portugal although the team of coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was unable to enter the Greek penalty area.

Greece crowned European champion

Dominating from the beginning of the game, the hosts got their first chance to score in the 13th minute when Miguel shot from theright of the pitch, but his strike was deflected by Greece goalkeeper Nikopolidis Antonios.

In the 24th minute, Maniche got close to the opening goal as Ronaldo headed towards the midfielder whose distance shot went just past the left post.

Portugal kept pushing forward while Greece seemed to be enjoying the score of 0-0. In five matches, the Greeks only conceded four goals and the team of Otto Rehhagel relied on their defense so far.

"They won defensively. They won because they knew how to play in that way," said Scolari, who failed to become the first non-European coach to win the European championship.

Greece, who have never entered finals of any major tournaments,found their pace in the second half when their strong forward Charisteas Angelos broke the deadlock by heading the ball into thehosts' net through a corner in the 57th minute.

"We took advantage of our chances. The opponent was technicallybetter than us but we took advantage of our chances. We should have made it 2-0," said Rehhagel.

Portugal almost tied the game in the 74th minute when their talented Cristiano Ronaldo escaped the offside trap to face Antonios, but only saw the ball flying across the bar.

"It's hard. It's hard to lose this way...to play a game this way, without goals," said Scolari after the game.

Greece had never won a game in their previous two final tournament appearances, but shocked Europe by defeating Portugal 2-1 in the opening match of the tournament.

After a draw and a loss to Russia, Greece followed up with the biggest shock in tournament history, beating defending champions France 1-0.

Then, Greece beat the Czech Republic in extra time by the same score in the semifinals to set a final clash with the hosts.

Source: Xinhua