Greece national football team

The Greece national football team is the national football team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation.

Greece's first appearance in a major tournament was Euro 80, but their first win in a major tournament did not come until the first match of , a 2-1 win over the hosts Portugal. The Greeks went on to win the tournament, stunning defending champions France in the quarterfinals and the heavily favored Czech Republic in the semifinals before beating Portugal a second time, 1-0, in the final. Bookmakers were giving odds of about 80-1 to 150-1 for the Greeks before the tournament.

On 3 July 2006, FIFA suspended all institutions connected with the Hellenic Football Federation, including the Greek national team, from international football with immediate effect, citing the federation for not being sufficiently independent from the Greek government. [http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=400310&CPID=219&clid=517&lid=554&title=Fifa+suspend+Greece Fifa overturned the suspension after Greece's parliament voted in favour of an amendment to the offending laws.

History

1980 European Football Championship

Greece made its first appearance in a major tournament at the 1980 European Football Championship in Italy. In the competition, Greece were drawn into group A with West Germany, the Netherlands, and Czechoslovakia. In their first game with the Netherlands, Greece held the Dutch 0-0 until halftime, however the Dutch eventually triumphed after winning the game 1-0. Three days later Greece played Czechoslovakia in Rome. After keeping the Czechoslovakians to a 1-1 draw in the first half, Greece eventually lost 3-1. In their last game, Greece earned a 0-0 draw against West Germany, after the latter had already qualified. Greece were therefore eliminated with one point from three matches.

After appearing at Euro 80, Greece did not qualify for another major tournament for fourteen years.

World Cup 1994

Greece qualified for World Cup 1994 in the USA for the first time. They finished first in their qualifying group surpassing Russia. In the final tournament Greece were drawn into group D with Nigeria, Bulgaria, and Argentina. After having a successful qualifying campaign, Greece were determined to make an impact. In their first game against Argentina, Greece lost 4-0. Four days later Greece suffered another 4-0 blow from Bulgaria. In their final game Greece lost to Nigeria 2-0. In the end, Greece were eliminated in the first round losing all three games and scoring no goals and conceding 10, making one of the worst records in the history of World Cup.

1994 to 2004

Greece failed to qualify for Euro 96. In their World Cup 1998 qualifying tournament Greece were only one point away from qualifying for the tournament in France just behind Croatia for second place. In their Euro 2000 qualifying group, Greece finished again in third, two points behind second place finishers Slovenia. In the 2002 World Cup qualifying Greece finished fourth in their group.

The Euro 2004 triumph

Greece made it to Euro 2004 after surpassing Spain in their qualifying group. In the final tournament Greece were drawn in to Group A with Spain, Portugal, and Russia. Greece were one of the lowest ranked teams in the tournament and were not expected to even make an impact. In the opening match against Portugal, Greece achieved a surprise victory by beating Portugal 2-1. After this win, the team was nicknamed "the pirate ship" by Greek sportscaster George Helakis. The nickname was inspired by the opening ceremony, which was held just before the game, and involved a ship floating on the football field (a homage to Portugal's history of exploration). Greece were portrayed as the pirates who surprised the opponents and "stole" the win from their hands, a theme that would repeat itself throughout the tournament. Four days later, Greece stunned Spain in front of a majority Spanish crowd to a 1-1 draw after being down 1-0 at the half. Charisteas scored a beautiful goal between the legs of the Spanish goalkeeper Casillas. In the last group game, Greece went down quickly 2-0 to Russia (who were already eliminated). Greece pulled one back on a goal by Vryzas which was wonderfully set up by a Papadopoulos header. Without that goal, Greece would have been eliminated. Greece and Spain had a 0 goal differential, but Greece took second place in the group on goals scored (4 for Greece, while only 2 for Spain). In the quarterfinals Greece faced off with the reigning champions France. At 65 minutes, Greece took the lead when captain Zagorakis flicked the ball high in the air as a French defender flew by, retained possession and then sent a perfect cross to Charisteas for the header. Greece held on to win, knocking France out of the Euro 2004 and becoming the first team ever to defeat both the hosts and defending champions in the same tournament. Greece reached the semifinals to face the Czech Republic, who were the only team to defeat all their opponents to this point, including a convincing 3-2 win over the Netherlands, a 2-1 win over Germany, and 3-0 win over Denmark in the quarterfinals. After 90 minutes the game ended 0-0. In the first half of extra time, a close range silver goal header from Dellas off a corner ended the Czech campaign, putting Greece in the final of Euro 2004. 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 of the final Angelos Charisteas gave Greece the lead with a header off of a corner by Basinas. Greece held on 1-0 to win the final of Euro 2004, to create of the biggest shocks in football history. Captain Zagorakis was named the man of the tournament.

Aftermath

Greece's victory shot them up in the FIFA World Rankings from 35th in June 2004 to 14th in July 2004. This is believed to be the largest upward move in a single month in the top echelon of the rankings; there have been larger single month moves considerably further down the table.

The triumph of Greece at Euro 2004 is one of the biggest sporting achievement in the country's history for a team sport, along with the successes of the Greek Basketball team in the European Championships of 1987 (1st), 1989 (2nd), 2005 (1st). 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 and 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 Awards.

As Euro 2004 winners, Greece qualified for the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany. Greece were drawn in to group A with 2002 world champions Brazil, 2004 Asian Nations Cup champions Japan, and 2003 Gold cup champions Mexico. Greece lost 3-0 to Brazil and later 1-0 to Japan. After being already eliminated Greece avoided being the worst team in the history of the Confederations Cup by earning a 0-0 draw with Mexico. Greece ended the their campaign with a draw, two losses, and no goals.

World Cup 2006 qualifiers

After winning the Euro 2004, Greece were favorites to qualify in their group. Greece were drawn in to Group 2 with Ukraine, Turkey, Denmark, Albania, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. In their first qualifier Greece lost to Albania 2-1. Greece later drew with Turkey, Ukraine, and defeated Kazakhstan. On Feb 9, 2005 Greece defeated Denmark 2-1 to take second place, and increasing chances of qualification. Later wins against Georgia and Albania and draw with Turkey also increased these chances. However on June 8, 2005 Greece lost to Ukraine 1-0 and took third in the group. Greece later defeated Kazakhstan 2-1 scoring at 89 minutes. On October 8, 2005, Greece were defeated 1-0 by Denmark in Copenhagen and chances for a qualification through a playoff were minimal. In order to make the playoff spot Greece needed a win against Georgia and needed Albania to defeat Turkey and Kazakhstan to defeat Denmark. In their last game, Greece defeated Georgia but the other games did not go in their favor. As a result the Greece failed to qualify for Germany 2006.

After the world cup qualifiers many football analysts wondered what happened to the team and why they failed to make the subsequent World cup after becoming European Champions. Most analysts concluded the Greek team were out of form and were without defender Trianos Dellas, and forward Angelos Charisteas in the key games.

After the 2006 World Cup, the Greek team fell in the World ranking from 20th in May to 32nd in July. This fall put them near the same ranking before winning Euro 2004.

Euro 2008

Greece were the highest ranked seed in the 'pots' for qualification to 2008 European Football Championship in Switzerland and Austria. Greece were drawn with Turkey, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova and Malta. This is the only group which does not have a team represented in the World Cup 2006.

Stadium

Greece uses for home matches the Karaiskakis Stadium (Olympiacos' stadium) since they became European Champions. They used that stadium for all home matches of World Cup 2006 qualifying round.

In the past, Greece used several other stadiums like Kaftantzoglio, Olympic Stadium (Athens), Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium, e.t.c.. For Euro2004 qualifying round- when Greece won the trophy- Greece used the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium (Panathinaikos' stadium) for home for all the matches. In 1990s, most times they used the Athens Olympic Stadium. Olympic Stadium was used as home for Greece also in World Cup 2002 qualifying.

World Cup record

1930 - Did not enter
1934 - Withdrew during qualifying
1938 - Did not qualify
1950 - Did not enter
1954 to 1990 - Did not qualify
1994 - Round 1
1998 to 2006 - Did not qualify

European Championship record

1960 - Did not qualify
1964 - Withdrew from qualifying
1968 to 1976 - Did not qualify
1980 - Round 1
1984 to 2000 - Did not qualify
2004 - Winners

Squad

Olympiacos CFP}} Ateltico de Madrid}} Panathinaikos}} Eintracht Frankfurt}} AEK Athens}} RCD Mallorca}} PAOK FC}} Bolton Wanderers}} AFC Ajax}} SL Benfica}} Panathinaikos}} A.E. Larissa}} OFI Crete}} Hearts}} Olympiacos CFP}} Panathinaikos}} Panathinaikos}} Olympiacos CFP}} Eintracht Frankfurt}} SL Benfica}} PAOK FC}} AEK Athens}} Panathinaikos}} Manchester City F.C.}} Skoda Xanthi}} AEK Athens}}

Past Coaches

Ioannis Kalafatis, 1920
Apostolos Nikolaidis, 1929
Jan Kopsiva, 1929-30
Svejik, 1930
Jan Kopsiva, 1930
1930-31 "Τεχνική Επιτροπή"
Lefteris Panourgias, 1932
Kostas Negrepontis, 1933-34
Apostolos Nikolaidis, 1934-35
Kostas Konstantaras, 1935
Kischler, 1936
Kostas Konstantaras, 1936
1937 None
Kostas Negrepontis, 1938
1939-47 None
Kostas Negrepontis, 1948-50
Antonis Migiakis, 1951
Ioannis Chelmis, 1951
Nikos Katrantzos, 1951
K. Negrepontis & A. Migiagis, 1952
Antonis Migiakis, 1952-53
Kostas Negrepontis, 1953
Ioannis Chelmis, 1954
Antonis Migiakis, 1954-55
Ioannis Chelmis, 1955
Kostas Andritsos, 1956
Rino Martini, 1957-58
Antonis Migiakis, 1958
Paul Barone, 1959-60
Tryfonas Tzanetis, 1960-61
Antonis Migiakis, 1961
Tryfonas Tzanetis, 1962-64
Lakis Petropoulos & Ioannis Magiras, 1964-65
Panos Markovits, 1966-67
Lakis Petropoulos, 1967
Kostas Karapatis, 1968
Dan Georgiadis, 1968-69
Lakis Petropoulos, 1969-71
Billy Bingham, 1971-73
Alketas (Alkis) Panagoulias, 1973-76
Lakis Petropoulos, 1976-77
Alketas (Alkis) Panagoulias, 1977-81
Christos Archontidis, 1982-84
Miltos Papapostolou, 1984-88
Alekos Sofianidis, 1988-89
Antonis Georgiadis, 1989-91
Stefanos Petritsis, 1992
Antonis Georgiadis, 1992
Alketas (Alkis) Panagoulias, 1992-94
Kostas Polychroniou, 1994-98
Anghel Iordanescu, 1998-99
Vassilis Daniil, 1999-2001
Nikos Christidis, 2001
Otto Rehhagel, 05/09/2001 -

Noted Players

External links

European national football teams | Football in Greece

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