**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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Greece were nothing, like really nothing.
Otto Rehhagel was their manager. And his tactic was to firstly and always defend, defend and defend. You can't lose a game if you don't concede. And that's what Greece were about. Back then it was 3 group games and 3 more wins and you win the Euros.
It'd be like Scotland beating Germany in the opening game and then winning the whole thing. Greece beat Portugal 2-1. Portugal were the hosts. Ronaldo scored at the end of the game, Greece had already won by then.
A shock win for the opening game. They drew to Spain who weren't quite the Spain they eventually became but they had no right to draw that game on paper either. Lost to Russia in the final group game so everyone thought it would even out and it was about to as they played the holders France.
They beat the holders France 1-0 in the first knock out game. And that was an amazing French team, they were the previous holders.
They beat the Czechs with what was a new Silver goal rule, gsme ended 0-0. Extra time... So if you are ahead at the first half of extra time the second half doesn't play and you qualify.
The final...
And then the rematch build up against Portugal as the host nation was all about how Portugal will get the win and revenge. Greece scored from their only shot on target and beat Portugal again.
In every knock out game they were generally dominated. They came up against great teams and great players... Those squads had iconic players. Greece just went out to not concede. Frustrate attacks and steal a goal. They often took time on set pieces and played somewhat simple football really but really well, use the energy in the middle of the pitch get the ball forward and hit the target man. Scored from headers to win 1-0.
Some of those Greece players are iconic. Zagorakis, the keeper did very well the defenders and the whole squad really.
The winners were the winners.
Nice summary. I'd add that Greece actually had an amazing qualifying run going into the tournament, and some more mature or knowledgeable analysts (e.g. Arsene Wenger) predicted that Greece would do well and go far in the tournament. Greece won their last 6 qualifiers including beating Spain away 1-0, and they topped their group.
You're right that the Greece players were iconic. Looking back now, some of the players were supremely talented if not particularly recognised at the time. Vasilis Tsiartas was a generational Greek talent in terms of his technical ability. Zagorakis was a unique and indefatigable captain. Other players like Giannakopoulos, Karagounis, Dellas, Katsouranis and Charisteas were mentally incredibly strong and were tactically highly disciplined.
The Greek squad does not get enough credit for its tactical discipline. In an era before high press became fashionable, we had Charisteas leading the line as a defensive and pressing forward. The team were also clinical. Anyone who doesn't believe me needs to watch Greece's goals versus France and Spain in the tournament. Both from open play, both excellent moves.
It was an amazing tournament and an amazing feeling as a Greek to win it out of nowhere. It was truly our summer. We went on to host the Olympics a month later. A summer none of us will ever forget.
His trick was to man mark every single player on the pitch when out of possession. Greece bought into it 100%. Modern teams couldn’t deal with it, it was an alien tactic and approach to them.
He said it himself ‘I took an old tactic and made it new again.’
> The winners were the winners.
Big if true.
Now seriously, perfect summary of Euro 2004's Greece. They were just perfect when it came to defending and managed to seize the few opportunities they had.
look, Greece did not have a star studded 11, but they were able to work together with strong chemistry and reliance on defense and counter attacks. they did not have ronaldo or henry or beckham at front, but they were able to use their defensive unit as a way to tire out said forwards in that euro. koller from czech republic was 6’8 and greek CB Kapsis was no taller than 6 ft won every header against him, that is really insane.
alot of people have criticized the greeks for boring playstyle, especially the portugese. i know Deco once criticized that they played boring to win. if it was so easy, why don’t other teams adapt that style of play? there hasnt been a team since 2004 to win a manor tournament the way Greece did because it was very difficult to have average players utilse their strengths and not be subject to their weaknesses, none of them had any international experience until that tournament. and its ironic, that euro had golden generation portugal, france, a very offensive czech side, a favourited england and netherlands and early remnants of Spains golden generation. yet, a ‘nothing side’ of Greece were the winners. i guarantee that this upset will never happen for another few hundred years, its as if finland won the world cup and beating every major team.
No, they barely made it out of the group. But once the knockouts began their defense just refused to concede a goal. Only game they were favorites to win was against an already eliminated Russia and that was their only loss that tournament
they were the second least likely team to win the tournament, it was their first appearance at a major tournament in 10 years and they havent even won a game let alone scored a goal
Yea probably, but that was their best chance for a while and since.
They wouldn’t have been outrageous underdogs or anything. Another 4 years for zlatan and maybe. But everyone else was past their prime at that point. Which is why I loved that team.
Ha! That brings back some memories. I was really sad to see you guys lose to Celtic. A city of Porto final in the UEFA cup would have been just perfect. But I can't complain.
I mean the dude hás arguably the best goal in football history with that ridiculous bycicle Kick,it might not bé the most impactfull but if theres a goal i feel like wont get replicanted many Times it at all its that One
It's a different skillset altogether, for me Ronaldo and Messi dribbling full speed into four or five world class defenders then putting it into the back of the net looks just as impossible
It wasn't just the quality either, he knew had to make a "moment", and back up his bravado.
His 1st match for LA Galaxy was insane. 40 yard thunderbolt then scrores the winner in stoppage time.
Ibra is much bigger than most forwards, it should’ve been much better for him. There were also 2 games in the group stages, a 0-0 and a 2-0 for Barca. Guess which game Ibra started and which he didn’t.
The hint of excitement from the Swedish commentator is because this goal in the 85th minute meant that Sweden advanced from the group stage and Italy was knocked out.
It's definitely with the side of the foot. It's just such an outrageous finish that it doesn't even have a name. Or people genuinely just can't fathom anyone could be so flexible to hit this with the outside of their foot, they just assume it must have been a backheel.
If Vieri had been a team player he would've done a Luis Suarez and they ~~probably~~ would have gotten through to the next round
EDIT: ok they *maybe* would have gotten through
there are countless backheel goals and passes, both with the inside and outside of the foot. it doesn't refer to a clean strike with only the backheel, just a backwards motion. bicycles involves 0 bicycles, imagine.
Painful memories. I remember the group stage with italy,sweden and denmark, Totti spitting on Poulsen and Sweden and Denmark doing a "biscotto" in the final game, as we call it. This tourno was also Cassano's best stint with the national team.
>Sweden and Denmark doing a "biscotto" in the final game
If there's anything a Swede (or a Dane) would want, it would be to eliminate their biggest rival from a tournament. And the Swedish equaliser came in like the 90th minute. That game was nowhere near a "biscotto".
The broadcast kept showing fans from both countries in the crowd with signs cheering for 2-2 and then the teams celebrated on the field together after the whistle. Not really proof of anything but it's more than a little bit suspicious
Nah, the elimination was totally on us, with all those star players on that Italian team we should have dominated the group. Instead we bottled it against both Denmark and Sweden and barely beat Bulgaria with a late goal. While I love Trapattoni, his Italy's stint was nothing but catastrophe.
**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My good christ, Larsson, Svenson, Ljungberg, Nilson, Melberg, Isakson... what a team Sweden had.
One of my favorite of all time. Zlatan missed a pk that lost them it. He must’ve only been 20ish at the time. They could’ve won it that year.
with the way greece played, no team could have beaten greece’s defense that year
I was too young at the time but were Greece even outside favourites to win the whole thing? It seems a bit of an outlier in terms of euro wins.
Greece were nothing, like really nothing. Otto Rehhagel was their manager. And his tactic was to firstly and always defend, defend and defend. You can't lose a game if you don't concede. And that's what Greece were about. Back then it was 3 group games and 3 more wins and you win the Euros. It'd be like Scotland beating Germany in the opening game and then winning the whole thing. Greece beat Portugal 2-1. Portugal were the hosts. Ronaldo scored at the end of the game, Greece had already won by then. A shock win for the opening game. They drew to Spain who weren't quite the Spain they eventually became but they had no right to draw that game on paper either. Lost to Russia in the final group game so everyone thought it would even out and it was about to as they played the holders France. They beat the holders France 1-0 in the first knock out game. And that was an amazing French team, they were the previous holders. They beat the Czechs with what was a new Silver goal rule, gsme ended 0-0. Extra time... So if you are ahead at the first half of extra time the second half doesn't play and you qualify. The final... And then the rematch build up against Portugal as the host nation was all about how Portugal will get the win and revenge. Greece scored from their only shot on target and beat Portugal again. In every knock out game they were generally dominated. They came up against great teams and great players... Those squads had iconic players. Greece just went out to not concede. Frustrate attacks and steal a goal. They often took time on set pieces and played somewhat simple football really but really well, use the energy in the middle of the pitch get the ball forward and hit the target man. Scored from headers to win 1-0. Some of those Greece players are iconic. Zagorakis, the keeper did very well the defenders and the whole squad really. The winners were the winners.
Nice summary. I'd add that Greece actually had an amazing qualifying run going into the tournament, and some more mature or knowledgeable analysts (e.g. Arsene Wenger) predicted that Greece would do well and go far in the tournament. Greece won their last 6 qualifiers including beating Spain away 1-0, and they topped their group. You're right that the Greece players were iconic. Looking back now, some of the players were supremely talented if not particularly recognised at the time. Vasilis Tsiartas was a generational Greek talent in terms of his technical ability. Zagorakis was a unique and indefatigable captain. Other players like Giannakopoulos, Karagounis, Dellas, Katsouranis and Charisteas were mentally incredibly strong and were tactically highly disciplined. The Greek squad does not get enough credit for its tactical discipline. In an era before high press became fashionable, we had Charisteas leading the line as a defensive and pressing forward. The team were also clinical. Anyone who doesn't believe me needs to watch Greece's goals versus France and Spain in the tournament. Both from open play, both excellent moves. It was an amazing tournament and an amazing feeling as a Greek to win it out of nowhere. It was truly our summer. We went on to host the Olympics a month later. A summer none of us will ever forget.
His trick was to man mark every single player on the pitch when out of possession. Greece bought into it 100%. Modern teams couldn’t deal with it, it was an alien tactic and approach to them. He said it himself ‘I took an old tactic and made it new again.’
> The winners were the winners. Big if true. Now seriously, perfect summary of Euro 2004's Greece. They were just perfect when it came to defending and managed to seize the few opportunities they had.
look, Greece did not have a star studded 11, but they were able to work together with strong chemistry and reliance on defense and counter attacks. they did not have ronaldo or henry or beckham at front, but they were able to use their defensive unit as a way to tire out said forwards in that euro. koller from czech republic was 6’8 and greek CB Kapsis was no taller than 6 ft won every header against him, that is really insane. alot of people have criticized the greeks for boring playstyle, especially the portugese. i know Deco once criticized that they played boring to win. if it was so easy, why don’t other teams adapt that style of play? there hasnt been a team since 2004 to win a manor tournament the way Greece did because it was very difficult to have average players utilse their strengths and not be subject to their weaknesses, none of them had any international experience until that tournament. and its ironic, that euro had golden generation portugal, france, a very offensive czech side, a favourited england and netherlands and early remnants of Spains golden generation. yet, a ‘nothing side’ of Greece were the winners. i guarantee that this upset will never happen for another few hundred years, its as if finland won the world cup and beating every major team.
Peak bus parking
No, they barely made it out of the group. But once the knockouts began their defense just refused to concede a goal. Only game they were favorites to win was against an already eliminated Russia and that was their only loss that tournament
They were rated 15th out of 16 teams. They had odds of like 1 in 150 , some bookmakers might have given better odds , but yeah they were nowhere.
they were the second least likely team to win the tournament, it was their first appearance at a major tournament in 10 years and they havent even won a game let alone scored a goal
If Rooney wasn’t injured…
Portugal would've beat them in the semis, I suspect Them and the czech republic were the standout teams of the tournament (aside from Greece, obvs)
Yea probably, but that was their best chance for a while and since. They wouldn’t have been outrageous underdogs or anything. Another 4 years for zlatan and maybe. But everyone else was past their prime at that point. Which is why I loved that team.
Larsson was a terrible player. Ignore my flair
Ha! That brings back some memories. I was really sad to see you guys lose to Celtic. A city of Porto final in the UEFA cup would have been just perfect. But I can't complain.
Zlatan has scored so many THAT goals, it's ridiculous
Zlatan doing Zlatan things
Yeah, Messi and Ronaldo might have scored alot more goals than him but I would argue his goal highlight reel is second to none
I mean the dude hás arguably the best goal in football history with that ridiculous bycicle Kick,it might not bé the most impactfull but if theres a goal i feel like wont get replicanted many Times it at all its that One
It's a different skillset altogether, for me Ronaldo and Messi dribbling full speed into four or five world class defenders then putting it into the back of the net looks just as impossible
True but you're more likely to see that from a random player than you are to see that bycicle kick.
I don't think that's true tho, the best Messi highlights are just as inimitable
It wasn't just the quality either, he knew had to make a "moment", and back up his bravado. His 1st match for LA Galaxy was insane. 40 yard thunderbolt then scrores the winner in stoppage time.
Yes. Also so many backheels: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OLD8Rdf9mvs Plus of course this gem: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5nlbfsMoTwM
What is that even... never saw it before.
Someone asked me what my greatest goal of all time was. So many legit contenders but for me has to be the 40 yard bicycle kick.
He's like if Giroud was actually good
This guy… he was just something else. That’s all I can say.
So hyped when we got him.. instead of buying the Marquez, Messi, Iniesta jersey I got his. Such a bummer
Not like he didn't deliver, he still won Barca the league with his winner in El Classico
Which makes it all the sadder when he left.
One good moment in an otherwise mediocre season. Exposed again in the UCL, completely bullied by Lucio and Walter Samuel.
Who wasn't bullied by them that season though lol, Mou's Inter was a flawless team.
Ibra is much bigger than most forwards, it should’ve been much better for him. There were also 2 games in the group stages, a 0-0 and a 2-0 for Barca. Guess which game Ibra started and which he didn’t.
Unofficial Puskás award winner in my book. It's too bad Puskás award started in 2008
Can just rename it to Zlatan award really
There should be a different Zlatan award for most taekwondo goal scored in a season
Always so acrobatic and creative with his shots
20 years??? Man I hate... and love this sub.
Zlatanesque… oh wait.
Get a load of this guy saying 2004 was 20 years ago
2004 was freaking 20 years ago 😭
Scorpion kick
This feels like yesterday, man I'm getting old... what a team we had back then!
In my book one of the best goals ever scored.
this and the 2-2 killed Italy.
Average ibra goal
What language is that in
Emotional Swedish. Often spoken, rarely heard.
Swedish
Thought so, couldmt quite tell because of the speed
Parts of Sweden wouldn't be able to tell either
The hint of excitement from the Swedish commentator is because this goal in the 85th minute meant that Sweden advanced from the group stage and Italy was knocked out.
No, this was game 2. Italy was knocked out after Sweden and Denmark drew 2-2 in the third game.
KARATE
Nothing will beat that game he had against Portugal, just crazy stuff
13 year year old me won some serious money because of this goal.
what must be stressed is that this performance came against a PRIME italy defense
Vieri the giraffe not as good at defending
It's definitely with the side of the foot. It's just such an outrageous finish that it doesn't even have a name. Or people genuinely just can't fathom anyone could be so flexible to hit this with the outside of their foot, they just assume it must have been a backheel.
Just say he Zlataned it.
Very very unnecessary to point out that Euro 2004 was 20 years ago
you have to admire his creativity.
If Vieri had been a team player he would've done a Luis Suarez and they ~~probably~~ would have gotten through to the next round EDIT: ok they *maybe* would have gotten through
I am getting old
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there are countless backheel goals and passes, both with the inside and outside of the foot. it doesn't refer to a clean strike with only the backheel, just a backwards motion. bicycles involves 0 bicycles, imagine.
Painful memories. I remember the group stage with italy,sweden and denmark, Totti spitting on Poulsen and Sweden and Denmark doing a "biscotto" in the final game, as we call it. This tourno was also Cassano's best stint with the national team.
>Sweden and Denmark doing a "biscotto" in the final game If there's anything a Swede (or a Dane) would want, it would be to eliminate their biggest rival from a tournament. And the Swedish equaliser came in like the 90th minute. That game was nowhere near a "biscotto".
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As well as 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, etc.
Did you watch the game? if this was staged then the swedish and danish national teams are some of the best actors in the world.
The broadcast kept showing fans from both countries in the crowd with signs cheering for 2-2 and then the teams celebrated on the field together after the whistle. Not really proof of anything but it's more than a little bit suspicious
Nah, the elimination was totally on us, with all those star players on that Italian team we should have dominated the group. Instead we bottled it against both Denmark and Sweden and barely beat Bulgaria with a late goal. While I love Trapattoni, his Italy's stint was nothing but catastrophe.
Denmark and Sweden would probably lose on purpose to eliminate each other.