Greece shock Portugal in final

LISBON: Angelos Charisteas headed the only goal as Greece achieved one of the greatest all time shocks in football yesterday by winning the European Championship after a 1-0  victory over hosts Portugal. The Greeks had never won a match at a major championship before arriving at Euro 2004 but wound up twice beating the Portuguese, ousting defending champions France 1-0 in the  quarterfinal and then beating hot favourites Czech Republic 1-0 in the “semis”.

Yesterday’s result meant that Portuguese coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who guided Brazil to their  fifth World Cup triumph two years ago, failed to become the first man to win the world and  European titles with two different teams. But Greek coach Otto Rehhagel, who also achieved domestic titles in Germany, became the first foreigner to win the European title. Charisteas headed home a 57th minute corner to set up the shock outcome to a championship full of upsets. It was his goal that gave the unfancied Greeks a sensational 1-0 victory that ousted defending champion France in the quarterfinal and it was almost identical to Traianos Dellas’ headed winner against the Czechs in extra time of the semifinal. Miguel had the first shot at goal in the 14th minute when he burst clear down the right and his low angled drive was fingertipped away for a corner by the diving ‘keeper, Antonios Nikopolidis.

Then his Portuguese counterpart Ricardo Pereira had to race off his line to save at the feet of Charisteas after Giourkas Seitaridis had again joined in a slick interpassing move by the  Greeks. Maniche, who scored a spectacular 22-metre strike in Portugal’s 2-1 semifinal victory over the Netherlands, flashed a shot just wide of the post from a similar distance in the 24th minute after Seitaridis had cleared off the toes of Ronaldo from a corner. Pauleta, lucky to start the match after some poor performances and failing to hit the target, produced an ambitious shot in the 39th minute when he collected a long clearance and turned to fire a 35-metre lob that flew much too high among the Greek supporters behind the goal.  Portugal had to make a substitution three minutes before halftime when Miguel went off with what appeared to be an abdominal injury and he was replaced by Paulo Ferreira.

The second half started with a similar pattern. Ronaldo had no success against Seitaridis on the left and Figo, quickly challenged by both Panagiotis Fyssas and Angelos Basinas whenever  he got the ball on the other wing, decided to roam into the centre of the field to try and get some space to work his moves. The Greeks finally broke the deadlock in the 57th minute with a similar set piece to the goal they scored in extra time against the Czechs. Seitaridis went on a speedy run down the right and was stopped by a fine block by Ronaldo who had chased back. The ball rolled for a corner and Basinas floated it into the six metre box for Charisteas to time his run perfectly and head powerfully home from five metres out right in front of his own fans. The Portuguese almost hit back immediately, Ronaldo firing a 20-metre shot which was too hot for goalkeeper Nikopolidis. Scolari had do something special and he sent on veteran Rui Costa for Costinha with 30 minutes remaining and then Nuno Gomes for Pauleta.

Ronaldo almost got the equaliser with 16 minutes remaining he chased a long clearance from goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira and got clear of the defence with just the keeper to beat. Taking the ball at pace, however, he was unable to keep it under control and, with Nikopolidis off his line, lobbed it over the bar. Ronaldo got through again with 10 minutes to go but Traianos Dellas got back to block the teenager’s shot. Then defender Ricardo Carvalho joined the attack to produce a low left foot 25 metre shot the keeper couldn’t hold but no one was there to take advantage of the fumble. In the final minute, Figo almost forced extra time when he weaved into space to fire a low left foot shot which was deflected just past the post.

Lineups:
Portugal —  Ricardo Pereira; Miguel (Paulo Ferreira, 43rd), Jorge Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho, Nuno Valente, Luis Figo, Costinha (Rui Costa, 60th), Deco, Nuno Maniche, Cristiano Ronaldo, Pauleta (Nuno Gomes, 74th).
Greece —  Antonios Nikopolidis; Giourkas Seitaridis, Traianos Dellas, Mihalis Kapsis, Panagiotis Fyssas, Angelos Basinas, Theodoros Zagorakis, Stylianos Giannakopoulos (Stylianos 
Venetidis, 76th), Costas Katsouranis, Zisis Vryzas (Dimitrios Papadopoulos, 81st), Angelos Charisteas.
Referee —  Markus Merk, Germany.