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Greek footballers earn respect with play
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-03 16:23
Congratulations to the Greeks for making it to the Euro 2004 final.
Taianos Dellas (5)
of Greece, celebrates with teammates after scoring the silver goal-winner
during extra time in the Euro 2004 semi final soccer match between Greece
and the Czech Republic at the Dragao stadium in Porto, Portugal, Thursday,
July 1, 2004. Greece won the match 1-0.
[Reuters] | The way they did it, however, may not
be good for the game.
No one can deny that Greece surprised everyone by beating host Portugal,
defending champion France and big-favorite Czech Republic. That the Greeks had
never before won a game at a major championship makes it all the more
remarkable.
But their tactics didn't win many friends.
German coach Otto Rehhagel, whose team plays Portugal again in Sunday's
final, didn't have a lot of talent. So he employed a system in which his players
sit back on defense, stifle the creative play of opponents and try to catch a
lucky break.
Look at Thursday's 1-0 semifinal victory over the free-scoring Czechs:
After the Greeks had restricted them to a handful of chances, defender
Traianos Dellas scored with seconds to go in the first period of overtime. It
was the first "silver goal" of the championship, meaning the Czechs had to tie
the score immediately or the game was over.
They didn't even have time to restart.
The result of Thursday's semifinal is that Greece now has a rematch with the
Portuguese in Lisbon. And the Greeks beat the host 2-1 on opening day.
Like the Greeks' other Euro 2004 victims, however, the Portuguese didn't know
what to expect. Spain also was held to a 1-1 tie by Rehhagel's team, and the
French were unable to impose their classy style in their quarterfinal and lost
1-0.
Oddly, the only team to beat the Greeks at Euro 2004 was Russia, which
already had been eliminated from reaching the next round.
If the Greek journey to the final had been filled with top quality passing,
shooting, dribbling and goals, no one would have doubted their performance. But
they admit their game is nothing like that.
"It's work, work, work," defender Mihalis Kapsis said. "We have 11 players
with one only target: to help each other on the field.
"We are used to each other. A lot of the players played on the same Greek
teams together. We are always talking and know exactly what the other is going
to do."
The fact that Greece made it to the final while powerhouse teams like
France, three-time winner Germany, Italy, Spain and England didn't even get past
the quarters suggests that there is a changing of the guard in European soccer.
Big stars like France's Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, England's David
Beckham, Spain's Raul Gonzalez and Italy's Alessandro Del Piero performed poorly
and even five-goal scorer Milan Baros of the Czech Republic couldn't find a way
past the Greek defense.
But if other underachieving nations adopt the same style of economy class
soccer, the game is going to lose much of its appeal.
The theme running through Europe's media was respect for the Greeks rather
than gushing praise.
"The team stays in place," said the French sports daily L'Equipe. "It is, as
usual, a tight block. For all those who thought the run of Greece was just an
accident, the reality is there for all to see."
The Italians papers, used to such tactics with their clubs and national
teams, said the Greek style was nothing new.
"Passing this soccer, at least 30 years old, off as something new is an
undertaking. But maybe, after so much time, a few things have been forgotten
about how to confront a team like Greece," La Repubblica said in an editorial.
La Gazzetta dello Sport offered some respect.
"Greece doesn't play a spectacular kind of soccer, but it has proven itself
balanced and resistant like its German coach," said Italy's largest sports
daily.
British papers praised the Greeks for a remarkable effort in reaching the
final. Only one paper, the Daily Express, criticized Rehhagel's tactics.
"The right to play hosts Portugal in Lisbon on Sunday turned into a dour war
of attrition," the paper said, "as defensive-minded Greece took football to
Hellas and back.
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