When the clock stopped ticking

I really don’t know where to start from. Wrong… I really don’t know what to write… I’ve been browsing the internet for the last hour to find the best info I could about the miracle that happened in 2004, but nothing can reflect the feelings I had back at the time.

 

It was 5 years ago when the clock stopped ticking for us… the Greeks. Euro 2004 was hosted in Portugal and honestly, all we hoped for was 3 good performances and may be just a point as Spain, Portugal and Russia were in our group. No one… I repeat… No one could predict what would follow…

 

The following story is true but cannot reflect even 5 percent of my feelings.

 

 

June 12, 2004: Greece 2-1 Portugal

 

It was the opening game of the tournament. My brother and I were in front of the TV, full of agony, afraid that we would get hammered by Scolari’s team. “Don’t you have any faith on our team?” Yianis said. “I have but the Portuguese are better team” I replied. Ninety minutes later I was proved wrong…

 

 

 

 

 

June 16, 2004: Greece 1-1 Spain

 

Our win against Portugal had shocked everyone, but Spain was no team to underestimate. In fact, the likes of Raul, Morientes and Valeron made me feel that even a 3-0 defeat would be a reasonable result. “Reasonable?” Yianis quoted, “you‘ve seen absolutely nothing yet, we won’t lose today” he continued. And so damn right he was…

 

 

 

 

 

June 20, 2004: Greece 1-2 Russia

 

The previous two results had grown the expectations for our national team, as qualifying to the quarter-finals looked very possible now. All we needed to do was not to lose with more than one goal. Russia were already out of the tournament but their coach had warned us “we ‘re not on holidays yet”.

 

 

 

 

 

June 25, 2004: Greece 1-0 France

 

We had made it to the quarter-finals ! The country was already in heaven with that achievement. And playing against Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and the rest of the European Champions of 2000 wasn’t easy at all. The fantastic effort of Zagorakis from the right flank, his dribble to Lizarazu, the move of Katsouranis and the accurate header by Charisteas, is a goal that should be on football classes.

 

 

 

July 1, 2004: Greece 1-0 Czech Republic

 

I was refusing to go out and celebrate with the rest of the country. We were in the semi-finals and I couldn’t ask for more. But  it was brother’s voice who warned me again “you’ll see, this time will be harder but we will win again, we simply can’t concede a goal”. This game was the toughest for me, a match that will be always remembered because of “Colossus” Dellas’s goal.

 

 

 

July 4, 2004: Greece 1-0 Portugal

 

Portugal waited in the corner for their revenge in the final, but for the first time in the whole tournament, I had faith on our national team. The “goal of the angels” will never be forgotten as Angelos Basinas took the corner at 57’ and Angelos Charisteas put the ball in the back of Ricardo’s nets with a powerful header.

 

 

 

 

My time to rush on the streets had come. I can’t remember myself screaming so loud, singing my country’s national anthem so many times in one night, finding friends at the Pasalimani square in Piraeus that I haven’t seen since high school, being and acting crazy as ever. History was made, Greece had won Euro 2004 and nothing will ever change that.

 

Why we made it? No, it wasn’t of course our football talent. It was all made because of team effort, tactics, freshness, discipline, a bit of luck of course and efficiency. We never had someone to lead us, but in the face of “King Otto” Rehagel we found our mentor, a man that the football history had nearly forgotten the fact that he had won the German Bundesliga 3 times and the Cup Winners Cup in 1992 with Werder Bremen. His tactics were characterized by many as controversial, playing 5-3-2 in most of the matches, with 3 centre backs. But it was those tactics that gave depth to our defense and made it very difficult for teams to score against us.

 

I have no illusions. Greece possibly won’t make such an achievement in football ever again, at least not as long as I’m alive, but I feel gifted that I lived to see us lifting the European Cup. Since then, everyone keeps saying that since Greece did it, any team could do it.

 

Thanks for reading and watching the videos.