Greece Captures European Championship
LISBON, Portugal – Greece won the European Championship in one of the biggest upsets in soccer history, beating host Portugal 1-0 Sunday on Angelos Charisteas’ goal early in the second half.
Charisteas scored in the 57th minute with a header off a corner kick from Angelos Basinas.
Giourkas Seitaridis went on a speedy run down the right and was stopped by a block by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, with the ball rolling over the end line. Basinas floated the corner kick into the 6-yard box, and Charisteas timed his run perfectly to outjump Jorge Andrade and beat goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira from 5 yards.
“We are the best team in Europe. This is a unique moment,” Charisteas said. “It’s the greatest moment of my career. When I scored, I thought we could not lose.”
The unheralded Greeks, a soccer outsider given little chance of advancing from a first-round group that included Spain, Portugal and Russia, had been to only two major tournaments before this, the 1994 World Cup and the 1980 European Championship, failing to win a game. Sunday’s victory came just over a month before Athens hosts the Olympics, from Aug. 13-29.
When referee Markus Merk blew the final whistle, about 15,000 Greek fans in the Stadium of Light cheered.
Eusebio, the greatest player in Portugal’s history, stood on the podium as 50,000 Portuguese fans watched in disappointment as their heroes received the second-place medals. Portugal also was in a major final for the first time.
In Athens, thousands of jubilant fans waving Greek flags and honking car horns poured into the streets. Thousands of fans, some crying and embracing, gathered in Omonia Square, many waving Greek flags and singing the national anthem. Some cried and embraced. Others spread out the national flag on the street and bowed in front of it.
No host had ever lost a European Championship final and only two have lost World Cup finals, Brazil in 1950 and Sweden in 1958.
“We couldn’t take advantage of our chances,” Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. “There were shots that could have gone in, which would have changed the result. Unfortunately, they didn’t go in.”
Greece upset the Portuguese 2-1 in the tournament opener on June 12, ousted defending champion France 1-0 in the quarterfinals on a goal by Charisteas, then beat the favored Czech Republic 1-0 in the semifinals on an overtime header by Traianos Dellas, nearly identical to Charisteas’ goal Sunday. The Greeks did not allow in their final 343 minutes of the tournament.
Portugal, which dominated possession, nearly tied the score with 16 minutes remaining but with goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis out of position, Ronaldo lobbed the ball over the crossbar.
Dellas blocked Ronaldo’s shot with 10 minutes to go, and Nikopolidis allowed a rebound of Ricardo Carvalho’s 25-yard shot, but Portugal didn’t have anyone in front.
The game was briefly delayed with about five minutes to go when a fan dressed in black ran onto the field. Security chased down the man, who waved a banner with the emblem of the Spanish club Barcelona, then threw it at Portugal star Luis Figo.
Greece, led by Germany’s Otto Rehhagel, became the first team to win the quadrennial European title with a foreign coach.
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