Ole’ Hellas
A week after their unexpected triumph, football followers are still talking about the Greeks, their success, and how they managed to achieve such heroics.
Mention is always made of the unexpected triumph, the obvious limitations of certain individuals, and whether they were in fact the best team of the tournament.
Let me put the record straight. I thought that Pavel Nedved’s team from the Czech Republic was the best of the sixteen and I tipped them to beat Portugal in the final.
When they were unexpectedly eliminated in the semi-final I tipped Portugal to clinch the issue against the Greeks. Two one-nil setbacks foiled my predictions.
My close analyst who insists on remaining anonymous and who prefers to be referred to simply as ‘Babs’ was hardly flattered when I splashed my forecast in print and thinks that “it is always presumptuous to predict football results and being so audacious is risking one’s reputation.”
Discreetly, ‘ Babs’ always fancied the Czechs to win! But would not show it publicly.
“The Czechs were impressive, they looked sharp, fit, smooth, with the best collective play, pleasant to watch and very effective. They provided plenty of attacking football. Even when they rested a number of useful regulars they were still too good for the Germans. They looked potential champions, as the much-fancied Spain, Italy, England and France crumbled. They couldn’t miss. Or so they thought.
Luck deserted them when Nedved was injured midway through the first half of their match with Greece and then when they suffered a silver goal when Collina could have well whistled for half-time seconds earlier! That’s yet another reason why no one can predetermine football.
Who would have thought that Otto Rehhagel’s team would score three vital goals through identical headers to eliminate France, knock-out the Czech side and win the final against Portugal?
The Czech’s vastly experienced coach rightly admitted, that the Greeks, played effective football.
Of course, they will be admired for their success, but I doubt whether they will be celebrated world-wide. They only scored seven goals in six matches. A brace in the opening tie and then a mere goal per match in the other five fixtures, during which period they conceded only two.
A goal for Rehhagel’s team seemed a bonus. The Greeks hit their peak at the right moment in time, they hardly allowed their opponents to play about, made it very difficult for the others to penetrate an eight-men defence, ensured that they do not squander most of the few chances that they created. They based their play on a solid back four and ensured that they pull down the shutters once ahead.
The rest, which could well be defined as ‘the miracle in Portugal,’ followed. That, in brief sums up the Greeks’ success. “However one should delve deeper into the work done during the last two years. Nothing just happens and there is always a reason why.” That’s Babs’ analytic mind for you.
The Greeks’ fairy tale without a touch of magic puts them well under pressure now. Gone are the days when critics would place them well down the line below the usual ‘ big’ teams, when strengths are discussed.
They also have big responsibilities now. Otto Rahhegen bragged that the success echoed around the four corners of the world and that people in New York, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Los Angeles will be talking about his team’s achievement. He will be the first to admit that these same people will be following their World Cup qualifiers more closely than ever before. One will then study whether the much maligned negative tactics are back in fashion. Only results will tell.
Olympus has new Gods
The Greeks’ success thrilled the world though many thought that their destroying tactics encouraged defensive football. Otto Rehhagel worked with the rather limited talent at his disposal and enhanced his reputation as ‘ the man who achieves the impossible.’
Greece’s remarkable success story made someone suggest that Rahhegel or Zagorakis should be the seventh god worth joining the exclusive list formed of Zeus, Apollo, Hermes, Ares, Poseidon and Ifestos. Maybe that’s a bit much, but no one in his/her right senses will deny the fact that the Greeks’ success is one of football’s greatest stories. It is not without reason that a technical committee formed of experienced and highly respected coaches selected five Greeks, in a ten-nation compilation of ‘the ideal squad of Euro 2004.’
UEFA’s technical committee which was formed by Jozef Venglos, Andy Roxburgh, Gyorgy Mezey, Holgier Osieck, Bert Vogts, Angel Iordanescu, Roy Hodgson and Gerard Houllier, watched training sessions and matches, but were not present for team talks.
They will present a report and will obviously remark that the Czechs and the Dutch both tried to keep on attacking and score goals, even after being ahead, while England failed to keep their shape under pressure, and aimed at clinging to their single-goal lead. They will also mention the relative success of the Scandinavian sides, and even report on Latvia’s creditable debut. They will refer to the fact that five of Portugal’s tally of eight goals came from subs. They will study the reasons behind the failures of the traditional powers. They will devote chapters on this important analysis. Is it really related to physical and mental fatigue? Is it because of the foreign legion that foiled the ‘big’? “It is a fact that if you have too many foreigners in your own league it becomes difficult to get your players coming through" said UEFA Chief Executive Lars-Christer Olsson. And he is right, of course.
The list of 23 players forming an ideal squad as per the technical board’s opinion includes five players from Greece, four from Portugal and England, three Czechs, two Swedes, a Dane (Jon Dahl Tomasson), Zambrotta of Italy, Michael Ballack of Germany, Zinedine Zidane of France and Ruud van Nistelrooy of the Netherlands. The others are: Petr Cech (CR); Antonio Nikopolidis(G), Sol Campbell, Ashely Cole (Eng); Traianos Dellas (G); Olof Mellberg (Swe); Ricardo Carvalho(P); Georgios Seitaridis (G); Figo and Maniche (P); Frank Lampard (E); Theodoros Zagorakis (G); Wayne Rooney (E); Milan Baros and Pavel Nedved (CR); Cristiano Ronaldo(P); Henrik Larsson (Swe); and Angelos Chaisteas (G).
Otto Rehhagel is clearly the favourite for the platonic title of coach of the tournament, while for the writer Glourkas Seitaridis of Greece should have won the Player of the Tournament Award, either as man-marker, or as a lateral defender. He quelled Thierry Henry, Milan Baros and Cristiano Ronaldo. I also liked the other lateral defender Panagiotis Fyssas, 31, who marks very tight but who also attacks when he finds time and space. Apparently the Benfica defender got married this week and reports tell me that he didn’t stop showing off his winners; medal!
Nightmare
Eight of the sixteen national team managers were sacked, or asked to resign. This is common practice for the sides that were expected to do better.
For a number of famous individuals, the tournament was a nightmare. Once again FIFA’s supremo blamed the overall poor performances of most of the great names because of a hectic season and as he did just after the World Cup 2002 he advocated national leagues with only sixteen clubs. His words will not be readily heeded, as the clubs will not listen to a reduction of matches and eventual income especially as they have big wages to pay.
EURO 2004 will be remembered for a few magic moments and more let downs. For me the cheeky penalty chip by Tottenham’s Helder Postiga against England and the intoxicatingly improbable shot by Maniche from the corner of the penalty area which proved to be Portugal’s winner over Holland in the semi-final will linger on for years. So will Pavel Poborsky’s cut back pass for the Czech winner against Holland; it was simply an individual moment of brilliance. One can hardly ignore the impact of several youngsters like Wayne Rooney, Milan Baros, Antonio Cassano, Johan Volanthen, Cristiano Ronaldo, and especially Giourkas Seitaridis. But obviously there were several others.
The sad moments? The conspiracy equaliser by Sweden against Denmark, the poor form of Totti, Beckham, Henry, Scholes, Del Piero, Raul and so many others, who form a never ending list of millionaires who are expected to entertain but who ended up as the biggest flops in the game of Association Football.
But life goes on and before we know it we will be entertaining European finalists Bulgaria, Croatia and Sweden. With Hungary and Iceland they make up Group 8 of the European qualifying group for World Cup 2006. The new European champions’ real strength will be assessed against Albania and Turkey in September and then they will face Denmark, Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
It’s then that they have to show that Greece is really the new land of hope and glory as far as the fortunes of the bouncing ball go.
|
