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July 11 - July 18, 2004 |
Herculean upset in Euro Cup
World amazed as underdogs of the tournament win the championship in Portugal
By Mehrdad Masoudi
Euro 2004, a tournament full of upsets, produced the biggest one of all in its final. Greece, a 100-1 shot that had never won a game in a major soccer tournament before coming to Portugal, captured the European Championship.
Flops at the 1980 European championship and 1994 World Cup, the Greeks beat Portugal 1-0 last Sunday when Angelos Charisteas scored on a 57th-minute header off a corner kick.
It was the Greeks' second victory over the host after a 2-1 win in the opener. The Greeks also ousted defending champion France in the quarterfinals and the heavily favoured Czech Republic in the semis.
Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who guided his native Brazil to their fifth World Cup triumph two years ago, was trying to become the first to win the world and European titles with different teams. Greece became the first team to win the European title with a foreign coach - Rehhagel, a German.
The Portuguese organized the three-week, 31-game championship without a glitch. There were three nights of disturbances on the southern Algarve coast where English fans clashed with police. European soccer's governing body said the trouble happened away from game venues and was unrelated to the tournament.
Because of the threat of terrorism, security was tight. When up to 50,000 English fans gathered to sing and drink in the big squares of Lisbon, police were visible but made few arrests.
Though attendance at some games in the knockout stage was lower than expected, worldwide audiences reached record levels. UEFA said some games were seen by 50 million viewers in China, more than double the largest audience in a European nation.
Euro 2004 saw the ouster of five powers: Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England. Two years ago, the World Cup produced surprise semi-finalists in South Korea and Turkeyand the United States and Senegal both reached the quarters.
Greece delivered the first shock of Euro 2004, downing Portugal 2-1 on opening day and following with a 1-1 tie with Spain. Then came a bigger jolt - the Greeks stopped defending champion France 1-0.
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