The history of the selection of Greece champion of the Eurocopa 2004

Throughout history there have been 10 different Eurocup winners. Since its creation, in 1960, great teams have managed to win this title, such as France, Italy, Spain or Germany, among others.

One of the teams that have managed to win the Eurocup is the Greek team, which, in 2004, achieved a feat that has gone down in the history of European football. Today in 90min We want to review that iconic team and how it came to be crowned in Europe.

The Greek team qualified for this edition after finishing first in the group stage. The Greeks were first with 18 points in a group made up of Spain, Northern Ireland, Ukraine and Armenia.

In this way, the Greeks ensured their presence at a Eurocup more than 20 years later. Euro 2004 was the second time in history that the Mediterranean team was going to be present, the first time was in the edition held in 1980.

goalkeepers: Antonis Nikopolidis, Konstantinos Chalkias, Fanis Katergiannakis

defenses: Giourkas Seitaridis, Stylianos Venetidis, Nikos Dabizas, Traianos Dellas, Takis Fyssas, Georgios Georgiadis, Giannis Goumas, Michalis Kapsis

Midfielders: Angelos Basinas, Theodoros Zagorakis, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Vassilis Tsartas, Pantelis Kafes, Giorgos Karagounis, Kostas Katsouranis, Vassilis Lakis

strikers: Angelos Charisteas, Demis Nikolaidis, Zisis Vryzas, Dimitrios Papadopoulos

Coach: Otto Rehhagel

Most of the players on this Greece team in 2004 were performing their duties as players in the Greek league. The stars of that selection were the goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis, Giorgios Karagounis. Kostas Katsouranis, Theodoros Zagorakis and Angelos Charisteas

The Greek team was drawn in Group A along with Portugal, host of the tournament, Spain and Russia. In this group all the forecasts gave the Portuguese and the Spanish as the two classified to the final rounds, but nobody counted on the Greek team.

In the opening game of the tournament, the Hellenes already gave the first surprise, they beat Portugal, host and one of the favourites, by two goals to one. They got their second place after achieving a draw against the Spanish team and allowed themselves the luxury of losing to the Russians on the last day of the group stage. They went to the next round

In the quarterfinals they were going to face another of the tournament’s favorite teams, the French team, current champion, with players like Zinedine Zidane or Henry. Finally the Greeks took a victory by the minimum thanks to the goal of Charisteas.

In the semifinals they would face the Czech Republic, another of the great favorites in that edition. The Greeks returned to take control of the game with a victory by the minimum with the goal of Traianos Dellas.

In the final they would meet again with Portugal, who started as a favorite in that final. That game was played at the Estadio da Luz, with full capacity and packed with Portuguese. The Portugal team had several occasions that they failed to materialize. In minute 57, Charisteas, took advantage of a bad start by the Portuguese goalkeeper to put the score one to zero, scoring the goal that gave his team the victory of the Eurocup, their first and only Eurocup.

Goalie: Antonios Nicopolidis

defenses: Giourkas Seitaridis Traianos Dellas, Panagiotis Fyssas,
Michalis Kapsis

Midfielders: Angelos Basinas,
Theodoros Zagorakis, Stylianos Giannakopoulos, Kostas Katsouranis

strikers: Zisis Vryzas, Angelos Charisteas