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Friday, June 4, 2010
Greece
4:43 PM
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The Greece national football team represents Greece in international football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation. Greece spent most of their history in relative obscurity, having participated only twice in the final tournaments of the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship, in 1994 and 1980 respectively. But it was in the UEFA Euro 2004, when Greece were crowned European champions in only their second participation in the tournament, in one of international football's greatest surprises. The Greeks, dismissed as rank outsiders before the tournament with bookmakers giving odds of between 80–1 to 150–1 for them to win, defeated some of the favourites in the competition including defending champions France and hosts Portugal; the latter succumbed twice to Greece, the first time coming in the inaugural game of the tournament and the second in the final. Since then, Greece have received several distinctions for their triumph and have reached a higher status in international football. They have also been proven more competitive than they used to be and often reach high places in the FIFA World Rankings. Furthermore, the team attracts large numbers of fans not only at home matches, a rare phenomenon in the previous years, but even when they play abroad, providing the team with great support. For instance, a friendly clash between Australia and Greece in 2006 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Melbourne, Australia, set a stadium attendance record for association football attracting 95,103 fans, a portion of whom originated from the large Greek Australian community. History1980 European Football ChampionshipGreece made its first appearance in a major tournament at the Euro 1980 in Italy after qualifying as first - under the guidance of Alketas Panagoulias- from a group that included USSR and Hungary, both world powers back then. In the final tournament, Greece was drawn into group A with West Germany, the Netherlands, and.... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Czechoslovakia. In their first game, Greece held the Dutch 0-0 until 65' when the only goal of the game was scored by Kist. Three days later Greece played against Czechoslovakia in Rome. After halting the Czechoslovakians to a 1-1 at the end the first half, Greece eventually lost 3-1. In their last game, Greece earned a 0-0 draw against eventual winners West Germany culminating what was considered a decent overall performance in the team's maiden presence in a final phase of any football competition. World Cup 1994The team's success in qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA, marked the first time they had made it to the FIFA World Cup finals. Greece finished first and undefeated in their qualifying group, surpassing Russia in the final game. In the final tournament Greece were drawn into group D with Nigeria, Bulgaria, and Argentina. After the successful qualifying campaign, expectations back in Greece were high as no one could imagine the oncoming astounding failure. Most notable reason for this complete failure was the fact that legendary coach Alketas Panagoulias opted to take a squad full of those players -though most of them aging and out of form - that helped the team in the qualifying instead of new emerging talents seeing it as a reward for their unprecedented success. It is worth mentioning that all players of the squad included the 3 goalkeepers took part in those 3 games, something very rare. In their first game against Argentina, Greece lost 4-0. Four days later Greece suffered another 4-0 blow from Bulgaria and in their final game lost to Nigeria 2-0. In the end, Greece were eliminated in the first round by losing all three games, scoring no goals and conceding 10, thus making one of the worst records in World Cup history. Near missesGreece failed to qualify for the Euro 1996 finishing third in the group behind Russia and Scotland. In their 1998 World Cup qualifying tournament the team finished only one point shy of second-placed Croatia as, despite a plethora of missed chances, it was halted to a 0-0 draw by the eventual Group winners, the Danish national football team. In their Euro 2000 qualifying group, Greece finished again in third place, two points behind second-placed Slovenia in a highly disappointing campaign that saw the team lose at home to Latvia and led to the sacking of then national coach Kostas Polychroniou. In the 2002 World Cup qualifying Greece finished a disappointing fourth in their group behind England, Germany and Finland making them change their coach Vasilis Daniil in the process and replace him with Otto Rehhagel. Highlights of the campaign were the humiliating 5-1 defeat in Helsinki and the 2-2 draw that followed in England, both the first two games of the soon to become legendary German coach at the reins of the Greek national team. Euro 2004 triumph
Qualification Greece started the qualification process for the Euro 2004 in poor fashion losing at home to Spain and away to Ukraine both times with a 2-0 scoreline. Astonishingly, the team went on to win their remaining six games, including a highly decisive 1-0 away win over Spain in their second matchup, securing first place in the group and an appearance in the European Championship finals for the first time in 24 years. Expectations before the tournament were low with memories of a bitter 1994 FIFA World Cup experience still fresh in the minds of many, where Greece lost all three group stage matches, conceding ten goals and scoring none. Group Stage In the opening match against hosts Portugal, Greece achieved a surprise 2-1 victory, receiving the nickname "pirate ship" used by Greek sportscasters in reference to the floating ship used in the tournament's opening ceremony. Greece won with a 25-yard strike from Giorgos Karagounis and a penalty from Angelos Basinas. Four days later, Greece stunned Spain in front of a largely Spanish crowd with a 1-1 draw after being down 1-0 at half time. Greece fell behind from a defensive lapse, which allowed Fernando Morientes to score. However, a sublime diagonal pass from playmaker Vasilios Tsiartas allowed Angelos Charisteas to score an equaliser in the second half, giving Greece hope of qualifying. In the last group game, Greece fell behind 2-0 to Russia (who were already eliminated) within the first ten minutes of the game but managed to pull one back through Zisis Vryzas and thus progressed to the next round, at the expense of Spain, on goals scored. Dmitri Kirichenko had the chance to eliminate Greece in the final minutes of this game, but his stretched effort squeezed just wide.
Quarter-final In the quarterfinals Greece faced off with the undefeated and reigning champions France. At 65 minutes, Greece took the lead. Angelos Basinas played a perfect pass to captain Theodoros Zagorakis, who flicked the ball high in the air, passed veteran French defender Bixente Lizarazu, and sent a perfect cross to Angelos Charisteas for the header and goal. Greece held on to win, despite a late French onslaught on goal with close efforts from Thierry Henry, thus knocking France out of Euro 2004 and becoming the first team ever to defeat both the hosts and defending champions in the same tournament. Semi-final Greece reached the semifinals to face the Czech Republic, who were the only team to defeat all of their opponents to that point. The Czech record included a convincing 3-2 win over the Netherlands, a 2-1 win over Germany, and a 3-0 win over Denmark in the quarterfinals. At this stage in the tournament, the Czechs were favourites to take the trophy. The game began nervously for Greece, as the Czech Republic applied much pressure. Tomáš Rosický hit the crossbar in the opening minutes, and Jan Koller had several efforts saved by Antonis Nikopolidis. The Czechs chances were dealt a blow when influential midfielder Pavel Nedved left the pitch injured in the first half. After 90 minutes the game ended 0-0, despite the Czechs having most of the game's missed chances. In the last minute of the first half of extra time, a close range silver goal header from Traianos Dellas from a Vassilios Tsiartas corner ended the Czech campaign, putting Greece into the final of Euro 2004 and sending their fans into raptures. Final 
For the first time in history (a recurring theme in this tournament), the final was a repeat of the opening game, with Greece and hosts Portugal facing off in a rematch. In the 57th minute, Charisteas gave Greece the lead with a header from a corner by Angelos Basinas. Portugal had much of the possession, but the Greek defence was solid and dealt with most attacks. Cristiano Ronaldo had a good chance to equalise in the dying moments, but could not apply a finish. Greece held on to win 1-0, winning the tournament, an achievement considered by many to be one of the greater, if not the greatest, football upset in history. Captain Zagorakis was named the man of the tournament, having led Greece and made the most tackles in the entire tournament. RecognitionGreece's victory shot them up in the FIFA World Rankings from 35th in June 2004 to 14th in July 2004. This is one of the largest upward moves in a single month in the top echelon of the rankings. The triumph of Greece at Euro 2004 is the biggest sporting achievement in the country's history for a team sport, along with the successes of the Greece national basketball team in the European Championships of 1987, 2005 and 2006 FIBA World Championship. The team has appeared on stamps and received medals from the President of Greece, the Archbishop of Athens, and an ecstatic ovation from the country's population which came out to see the team with the trophy from the Athens airport to the Panathinaiko Stadium where the Greek political and religious leadership was awaiting them. The Euro 2004 winners were selected as "World Team of the Year" at the 2005 Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year. 2005 Confederation CupAs Euro 2004 winners, Greece qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. Greece were drawn into Group A along with 2002 World Cup champions Brazil, 2004 Asian champions Japan, and 2003 North America champions Mexico. Greece lost 3-0 to Brazil and 1-0 to Japan and draw 0-0 with Mexico in a tournament that was seen mostly as a time for experimentation as players like Efstathios Tavlaridis, Loukas Vyntra, Mihalis Sifakis, Ioannis Amanatidis, and Theofanis Gekas either received their first ever calls or earned their maiden caps in the national squad. World Cup 2006After winning the Euro 2004, Greece were considered favourites to top their group, in the 2006 World Cup qualification. The team was drawn into Group 2 along with Ukraine, Turkey, Denmark, Albania, Georgia and Kazakhstan. In their first qualifier, Greece could not handle the game with Albania and lost 2-1, which was the reason Greece could not go to Germany for the 2006 World Cup. Afterward their matches were followed by draws (home and away respectively) with Turkey and Ukraine, before defeating Kazakhstan 3-1 at home. It was thought that the team was back on course as the 2-1 win over Denmark, with Zagorakis scoring his first ever goal in over 100 caps. This was followed by wins against Georgia and Albania and a respectable away draw with Turkey. However, despite dominating the game, Greece lost at home to Ukraine 1-0 having two goals disallowed. Three months later, Greece barely escaped embarrassment as they scraped to a 2-1 away win against Kazakhstan in the dying seconds. Greece was defeated 1-0 by Denmark in Copenhagen as chances for a qualification through a playoff looked dismal after a 1-0 win of Turkey in Kiev against the already qualified Ukrainian side. In their last game, Greece defeated Georgia finishing 4th, four points behind first-placed Ukraine and two behind Turkey. Throughout the match, the 30,000 fans in the Karaiskákis Stadium chanted the name of Otto Rehhagel in their utmost support and he said afterwards "Even if 10 years pass, part of my heart will be Greek". There was a dissatisfaction with the selection of the team by Otto Rehhagel throughout qualification campaign from some journalists as they argued that he was sticking to exactly the same Euro 2004 squad even though some players didn't even have a club and was overlooking others most notably Ieroklis Stoltidis of Olympiacos and Akis Zikos of Monaco. On 25 May 2006, less than a month before the opening of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Greece lost 1-0 to Australia in a friendly match in front of 95,103 people at the MCG. 
Euro 2008Greece was the highest ranked seed in the 'pots' for qualification to the UEFA Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria and was drawn with Turkey, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova and Malta being the only group which did not have a team represented in the World Cup 2006. Greece began their Euro 2008 campaign with victories over Moldova, Norway and Bosnia-Herzegovina. As a result, Greece climbed eighteen places in two months to 13th place in the October FIFA World Rankings. On 24 March 2007 Greece lost their fourth game 4-1 against Turkey in Athens. Nevertheless the team went on to win away to Malta, with the only goal coming in the 66th minute from an Basinas penalty, Hungary and Moldova at home and drew 2-2 away to Norway despite having hit the goalpost three times in this match. The draw in Oslo was followed by a 3-2 home win against Bosnia-Herzegovina and a 1-0 away win to Turkey, securing its presence to the Euro 2008 finals at their old rival's home ground. In the last two matches, Greece smashed Malta 5-0 in Athens and defeated Hungary with an away 2-1 win, finishing first in their group with a total of 31 points, the most points gained among any group. In the draw for the final tournament, Greece was seeded first as the defending European Champion. In addition to this, Greece climbed to the 11th place in the FIFA World Rankings, the highest ever for them, thus they are seeded first for the draw of the European qualification zone for the World Cup 2010, also for the first time. The draw for the Euro 2008 finals was held on December 2 in Switzerland, Greece were drawn in Group D along with Sweden, Spain, and Russia. In preparation for the tournament, Greece defeated Portugal 2-1 on 26 March 2008, in a repeat of the Euro 2004 opening and final match; as a result, Greece moved up to a record 8th position in the FIFA world ranking. In the tournament finals, however, the Greek team lost all three games and scored only one goal. Greece underperformed in the opening match against Sweden and lost 2-0. They tried to recover in the match against Russia, but lost 1-0. Having already been eliminated, the Greek team tried their chances against already qualified Spain, but also lost 2-1, becoming the first defending champion not to earn a single point in the next European Championship. World Cup 2010By way of the November 2007 FIFA World Rankings, Greece was seeded in Pot A for the European zone group stage draw for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying. They were drawn into Group 2 with Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg. Greece's group stage campaign began and ended with matches against Luxembourg on 6 September 2008 and 14 October 2009. While earning only three clean sheets in ten qualifying games, Greece relied heavily upon the scoring prowess of Theofanis Gekas, who led all Europeans in scoring with 10 goals. Two losses to Switzerland placed the Greeks one point behind the Swiss group winners, leaving Greece's 2010 World Cup hopes to be decided in a play-off with Group 6 runner-up Ukraine. A 0-0 tie in Athens preceded a 0-1 second-leg Greek triumph in Donetsk to secure a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
At the 2010 World Cup Draw in Cape Town, South Africa on 4 December 2009, Greece found itself grouped with two familiar opponents from its lone World Cup appearance in 1994. Argentina and Nigeria were yet again drawn into group stage play alongside Greece, this time into Group B with South Korea replacing Greece's third 1994 opponent, Bulgaria. The first match of the Greek team is against South Korea and it is scheduled to be held on June 12th in the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium.
StadiumGreece, at first, used the Karaiskákis Stadium in Piraeus as their home ground since they became European Champions. They used that stadium for all the home games of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying round. For the home games of the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying round Karaiskákis Stadium was used at first, but after some riots took place the National Team was forced to play at another ground for two fixtures, so they moved to Pankritio Stadium in Heraklion. What is more, it was decided that the homefixtures against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Malta be held at the Olympic Stadium of Athens. In the past, Greece used several other stadiums including Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Athens Olympic Stadium, Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, etc. For the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying round - in which Greece ended up winning the trophy - Greece used the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium (Panathinaikos' stadium) for all their home matches. ColoursGreece's home kit since the Hellenic Football Federation was first established was blue, but after Greece's triumph at Euro 2004 they changed their home kit from blue to white. The team wears either a set of white jerseys, shorts and socks or a set of blue jerseys, shorts and socks. A combination of a blue jersey and white shorts has also been used in some matches. The official shirt supplier is Adidas which has signed a long-term agreement with the Greek Federation until 2012. NicknamesDuring the opening ceremony of Euro 2004, which took place right before the match of Portugal vs. Greece, the hosts used the replica of a 16th century ship referring to the Portuguese expeditions of that time. The Greek radio sports journalist Georgios Helakis commented that "since the portuguese team appear in such ship, it's time for us to become pirates and steal the victory". This nickname was repeated at every win, and especially after the final match (again vs Portugal). After Greece won the trophy, The Pirate Ship is one of the nicknames of the Greek team. Another common nickname is the ethniki, which simply means national team, similar to the Mannschaft, a nickname for the German National Football Team. This having been said, the most popular name for the national team in Greece is the 'galanoleyki', which means 'the blue and white' (Greece's team colors). Also the greek national team is known and called "phalanx", because of the dificulty to break through her defensive lines and cause of the powerfull and strong consistance.
Competitive recordFIFA World Cup record
FIFA Confederations Cup record
UEFA European Championship record
PlayersMost capped playersAs of March 2010
Top goalscorersAs of March 2010
Current squad23-man squad called up for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Players' records are accurate as of 2 June 2010. Recent call-upsThe following players have also been called up to the Greece squad within the last 12 months.
See also
Past squads
ManagersAll the managers in team's history.
Records and statisticsCompetitive resultsThese are Greece's results in the three major competitions that they have participated. The results in the main tournaments have been listed directly in the total column. As of November 18, 2009
Total results by opponent
Memorable matches
FIFA ranking historyGreece's history in the FIFA World Rankings. The table shows the position that Greece held in December of each year (and the current position as of 2010), as well as the highest and lowest positions annually.
Honours
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