10.7.2004
Euro 2004 Aftermath
The members of Greek national squad were welcomed as gods in the triumphant return to their homeland after winning the 2004 European Championship. In Athens, a city coiled in wait for the upcoming Olympic Games, hundreds of thousands made their way downtown in cars, on mopeds and on foot, beeping car horns, waving flags and hugging total strangers.
The Greek squad, coached by German Otto Rehhagel, started the tournament as rank outsiders but after defeating Portugal in the opening game, fought their way to the final past holders France and a free-flowing Czech Republic side before beating the hosts again in the final.
UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh said that Rehhagel had done a "fantastic" job in taking an unsung group of players and turning them into conquerors at UEFA EURO 2004™ in Portugal."Otto was already a coaches' coach, everybody was already very impressed by him, but now he has reached an almost unparalleled level for an international coach, where he has taken an unfancied team and defied all the odds and gone all the way to the final," added Roxburgh. "He has raised his status to a level which probably he couldn't have imagined before."
UEFA has also released their EURO 2004 all-star team. There is a justified abundance of Greek names in the squad, with the winners providing five players, one more than both Portugal and England.
| EURO 2004 all-star squad | |
| Goalkeepers Petr Cech (Czech Republic) Antonios Nikopolidis (Greece) | Defenders Sol Campbell (England) Ashley Cole (England) Traianos Dellas (Greece) Olof Mellberg (Sweden) Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal) Georgios Seitaridis (Greece) Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy) |
| Midfielders Michael Ballack (Germany) Luís Figo (Portugal) Frank Lampard (England) Maniche (Portugal) Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic) Theodoros Zagorakis (Greece) Zinedine Zidane (France) | Forwards Milan Baroš (Czech Republic) Angelos Charisteas (Greece) Henrik Larsson (Sweden) Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) Wayne Rooney (England) Jon Dahl Tomasson (Denmark) Ruud van Nistelrooij (Netherlands) |