Greece History

Greek football on a high

The Greek national team have never enjoyed the success on the field that their passionate supporters deserve.

Right time
However, with the heavyweight capital sides AEK Athens FC, Olympiacos CFP and Panathinaikos FC now big hitters on the European club stage, and many of the nation's best players at prestigious foreign clubs, the time may have come for the Greek national team to make an impact on world football.

Regular competitors
While Greece had a team in the finals of the 1920 Olympic Games, the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) was a relative latecomer, only being formed in 1926. After that, Greece got into the swing of things and have only been absent from two - in 1930 and 1950 - of the qualifying campaigns for the FIFA World Cup since the tournament's inception in 1930.

Depressing precedent
Their first attempt at qualifying, for the 1934 competition, was to set a depressing precedent for much of what was to follow. Fate gave the Greeks a hard task, pitching them against tournament hosts Italy in the qualifying rounds - back in the days when the hosts still had to qualify for the finals.

Italian gift
The first leg of that match, played in Milan on 25 March 1934, ended in a 4-0 defeat for the Greeks. Perhaps graciously, with 20,000 tickets for the match having been ordered, Greece decided not to play the second leg. In return, the Italians gave their opponents enough money to buy a house in Athens worth approximately €315,000 to provide a home for the EPO.

Hungarian defeat
Greece won their first game in the qualifiers for the 1938 tournament - a 4-1 aggregate triumph against Palestine - but may have wished they had not as they faced Hungary in the second game, losing 11-1 in Budapest, a defeat that remains Greece's heaviest ever.

French lesson
Their maiden campaign for the UEFA European Championship was to be marginally less disappointing as Greece lost 7-1 away against France in October 1958 in the first leg of their first-round tie before earning a 1-1 draw on home soil. They withdrew from the subsequent qualifying competition in 1964.

Near misses
There was a near miss in 1970, when just one point separated them from their World Cup qualifying group winners Romania, and Greece also came close to earning a place in the 1976 European Championship - finishing as runners-up in their group thanks to two draws against eventual group winners West Germany.

Finals debut
Finally, coach Alketas Panagoulias helped Greece take their first place at a major finals tournament in 1980, as they finished ahead of Hungary, Finland and the Soviet Union in their European Championship qualifying group. However, they were to lose two of their three games in Italy, and had only one point from a goalless draw against eventual winners West Germany to show for their efforts.

World Cup misery
The same coach was in charge as Greece reached the finals of the World Cup for the first time in 1994, but they were to have little joy at the finals in the United States. They lost all three of their games against Bulgaria, Nigeria and Argentina, conceded ten goals and failed to score.

Hope remains
Their experience at finals tournaments has not been a happy one so far, but Greece will be hoping for better at UEFA EURO 2004™. German coach Otto Rehhagel masterminded a great qualifying campaign and has high expectations. "We don't want to go to Portugal just to represent Greece; we want to achieve something there," he said. A first-ever win in a finals tournament would be a welcome start.

Country Info

A civilising force

AREA: 131,940 sq km
POPULATION: 10,665,989
NEIGHBOURS: Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey, F.Y.R. Macedonia
LANGUAGES: Greek
CAPITAL CITY: Athens

One of the two giant nations of classical antiquity, along with Rome, Greece's recent rebirth as a footballing nation has seen the giants of the ancient world begin to make an impact on the world's most popular sport.

Early history
The history of Greece can be traced back as early as the Bronze Age, when Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean seafarers thrived in the area covered by modern Greece, but it was with the evolution of city states around 800 BC that Greece entered its first age of splendour.

Cultural triumphs
A great military and maritime power, Greece also boasted many of the great cultural triumphs for the age with sensational architecture and literature as well as Socrates introducing the concept of democracy a good 2,500 years before his namesake pulled on his boots from the Brazilian national team.

Byzantine decline
With Spartans, Macedonians and Romans all going on to seize control of the area, Greece eventually evolved into part of the Byzantine empire, but with the rise of European powers in the Middle Ages, Greece's status as a cultural and political powerhouse gradually dwindled.

Independence movement
When Byzantium was overrun by Turkey in the late 15th century, Greek culture seemed to go on a long sabbatical, only re-emerging with the country reclaiming independence from the Ottoman empire at the start of the 19th century.

Renewed hope
Since then, Greece has had its share of bad luck, battling with neighbours Turkey, flirting with fascism in the second world war and succumbing to a military junta in the late 1960s. There have been bad times, but with democracy now thriving, there is hope for the future.

Footballing achievements
The same is true for Greek football. Up until UEFA EURO 2004™, Greece had only qualified for two major finals tournaments, and had not managed to win a game at either. The 1980 UEFA European Championship at least saw them earn a draw with eventual winners West Germany, but the side returned from the 1994 FIFA World Cup having lost all three matches.

Happier times
Nevertheless, with a number of Greek sides making their presence felt in Europe in the past decade, Greece is a nation for which, in footballing terms, things can only get better.

Today year 2004 Greece Team

Player name list

Basinas Angelos Midfield Charisteas Angelos Forward Dabizas Nikolaos Defender Dellas Traianos Defender Fyssas Panagiotis Defender Giannakopoulos Stylianos Midfield Kapsis Mihalis Defender Karagounis Giorgios Midfield Lakis Vassilios Midfield Nikolaidis Themistoklis Forward Nikopolidis Antonios Goalkeeper Seitaridis Giourkas Defender Tsiartas Vassilios Midfield Venetidis Stylianos Defender Zagorakis Theodoros Midfield

Group A
	PLD	W	D	L	GS	GA	PTS
Portugal	3	2	0	1	4	2	6
Greece	3	1	1	1	4	4	4
Spain	3	1	1	1	2	2	4
Russia	3	1	0	2	2	4	3

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