EURO 2004: Rehhagel’s version of the Odyssey

“There are no right or wrong, or fair results. There is just the final score. All I know is that we’re not going to Portugal for tourism”

A 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo fell to the ground resisting tears as the deafening whistle is blown announcing a penalty for Greece.

Everybody in the stands of Estadio do Dragao seemed in denial as the well known Italian referee Pierluigi Culina signaled a penalty giving Greece a chance to go two nil up in the Euro 2004 opener.

It’s the nightmare in which the genius got the Genie out of the magic lamp. You can’t always mess with that kind of lamps.

NO BIG EXPECTATIONS

Rehhagel arrived in Athens leaving behind 35 years in Bundesliga where he was considered an icon.

It seemed the veteran coach wanted to avoid spotlights he usually stayed in during his spells at Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich, but he wasted no time guiding Greece to their first appearance in the Euros since 1980.

Greece surprisingly topped their qualifying group ahead of Spain and Ukraine, but there weren’t any big expectations when they were drawn again with Spain in addition to Russia and hosts Portugal. They made 1/150 in the betting odds.

Rehhagel stunned the hosts in the opener thanks to a combination between solid defense and efficiency. Centre backs Dellas and Kapsis were stiff alongside explosive right back Seitaridis, while classic anchormen Zagorakis and Basinas took control of midfield.

Wingers Karagounis and Giannakopoulos offered helping hands for towering striker Charisteas and his deep lying partner Vryzas.

The Greek formation left Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari in bewilderment, as he couldn’t decrypt the opposition despite having excellent attacking options like Rui Costa, Figo, Pauleta, Simao and starlet Cristiano Ronaldo.

The outcome of that afternoon in Porto was a 2-1 victory for Greece who was excellent defensively as they kept a clean sheet until the third minute of injury time when Ronaldo scored the home side’s only goal.

Greece continued to impress in group A, snatching a valuable draw with Spain thanks to a goal from Charisteas on 66 minutes in the only occasion when Puyol and Marchena were caught napping.

LEGENDARY PLAYMAKER

Despite a 1-2 loss to Russia, Greece made it to the quarterfinals after Portugal defeated wasteful Spain by a Nuno Gomes goal which meant a first round exit for La Roja for the first time since 1988.

The Greeks were watching group B to identify their next opponent between France and England who dominated their other two rivals Croatia and Switzerland.

Legendary playmaker Zinedine Zidane led France to top the group after bagging a brace in the dying minutes to overcome a 0-1 deficit to England who could have secured a win if Beckham had scored from the spot.

Nevertheless, England accompanied France to the quarterfinals beating Switzerland and Croatia 3-0 and 4-2 respectively.

The Italians are still convinced by conspiracy theory when they explain their early exit from group C.

The Azzurri drew with both Denmark and Sweden before beating Bulgaria, but their efforts remained insufficient as the two Scandinavian teams battled for a 2-2 draw, the only result that guaranteed their qualification at the expense of Italy.

Group D was more entertaining as debutants Latvia held Germany to a 0-0 draw, and the Netherlands drew with the Mannschaft 1-1 after a memorable strike from Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The Czech Republic won the group collecting maximum points as they defeated both Latvia and Germany 2-1 while their magnificent comeback to beat the Netherlands 3-2 was considered game of the tournament.

Names like Baros, Koller, Poborsky Cech, Ujfalusi and European footballer of the year Nedved were touted as favorites to lift the trophy.

Rehhagel guided Greece to a typical win over France in the quarterfinals; closing the game during the first half before unmarked Charisteas headed home Zagorakis cross to cruise into the semifinals in a massive surprise.

Estadio da Luz witnessed an epic in which England and Portugal drew 2-2 before heading to penalties.

Michael Owen scored in what looked like a folk a dance to give England the lead, but Helder Postiga equalized to force extra time.

Rui Costa put Portugal in front after 110 minutes but Frank Lampard pulled the game level with five minutes to go.

Beckham missed his penalty as he blazed the ball high over the bar. The same ball was put for sale on E-Bay for a record price two days later.

Darius Vassel missed the sixth kick for England as Portuguese keeper Ricardo successfully converted the next penalty to take his country to the last four, while England suffered from the curse of penalties in major competitions for the fourth time in 14 years.

‘DANCE ON A RAZOR’S EDGE’

Many analysts expected the Czech Republic to end the Greek adventure after thrashing Denmark 3-0 in the quarterfinals, while the Netherlands edged Sweden on penalties to face the hosts in the semis.

Ronaldo gave Portugal the lead over the Netherlands before his teammate Maniche scored a magnificent strike from way out.

Jorge Andrade scored an own goal but it wasn’t enough for the Netherlands to catch the hosts who celebrated reaching the final for the first time.

In Porto, Rosicky hit the Greek bar and Koller missed a clear chance as Dellas punished the Czechs heading Zagorakis corner in past Cech to score a silver goal and take his country to the final in the first miracle of the millennium.

That time in Lisbon, Greece was without suspended Karagounis and Rehhagel decided to employ an ultra-defensive formation with more freedom to Zagorakis to feed Charisteas and Vryzas with through balls.

Charisteas was about to score after 20 minutes but keeper Ricardo showed safe hands, while Ronaldo was under firm control from the Greek defense.

The “Déjà vu” occurred in the 57th minute when Charisteas headed Basinas corner past Ricardo to silence 63,000 Portuguese fans packed in the stands of Estadio da Luz.

Ronaldo lacked experience to equalize with ten minutes to go as Greece held on until the final whistle as everybody on the pitch didn’t hide their tears.

Ronaldo cried as a 10-year-old boy, while Rehhagel cried like a man in 90s who has never been appreciated before making his own version of the Odyssey.

“Every match in the Euro is a dance on a razor’s edge”