Greece - Portugal Final

mike65

Well no suprises so far except that the Greeks have been a bit more attack minded than I thought.

Mike.

bizmark

pritty boreing tbh

Amz

The Greeks have been going forward a lot more than expected.

Nothing massively entertaining about the game so far though.

It's a pity Miguel had to be substitued, hopefully Ferreira will have a more positive impact in this match than he did in their opener.

The Greek supporters are fantastic they're putting the hosts to shame!

Harry2001

Originally posted by Amz
The Greek supporters are fantastic they're putting the hosts to shame!

The Portugal fans are so quiet apart from the annoying whistling when Greece get the ball, talk about “only sing when your winning”

All going to plan for Greece so far!

Snatch a goal half way through the second half and hang on

Guy:Incognito

gwan the greece, be good to see an outsider win it.

watman

In last few minutes , do the greeks have the bottle to go on and win it . Hope so as i have them in our office sweep

zAbbo

the most exciting thing was the lad running into the net, somebody please shoot Deco

bizmark

Aye diveing wanker tbh

Guy:Incognito

Whoo'd a thunk it



Well done Greece.

PiE

Originally posted by bazH
the most exciting thing was the lad running into the net, somebody please shoot Deco

Was thinking the same thing.

Shocking end to a shockingly bad tourney.

sharkman

Bloody hell, wonder what odds you would have got on the Greeks before the tournament ?

bizmark

100/1 i think

mike65

C'mon lads, show some generosity! The Greeks played the near pefect game while the Potugese were to busy tring to play thier way to glory.

Oh yes I thought the German dentist had a good game except for not booking Deco, twice!

Mike.

Guy:Incognito

Greece played really well all the way through the tournament. Any team that Beats Portugal twice, France and the Czechs as well as a draw with Spain deserves to win it, no questions

Amz

Congratulations to Greece.

They defended brilliantly. Played a great game, albeit a bit lack lustre, Portugal didn't deserve to win based on todays performance alone.

mr_angry

Fantastic for the Greeks, but distinctly average for the neutral fans. I'me delighted to see an 'outsider' nation win it, but I don't think anybody will be looking back at the tournament and remembering the great football.

I'd say the Italians loved it! (Apart from their own team not being there, of course.)

Ronan|Raven

Delighted for the Greek's,. They played a very "german" style tonight. Well organised and disciplined. And nick a goal. Yes it may have been boring football but at the end of the day it is about winning and Greece have certainly done that.

MisterAnarchy

Greece European Champions
What a joke.
The standard of International football is crap.

Big Ears

Well I for one enjoyed the tournament , but thats because I love defending (must have some Italian relation some way down the line ) .

The Greeks showed that not talent alone will win tournaments and that being organized , courageous , dogged , resilent and many other defensive charistics are all necessary to win tournaments .

mike65

Gordon reckon you'll get any sleep tonight!?

Mike.

naitkris

Originally posted by Big Ears
Well I for one enjoyed the tournament , but thats because I love defending (must have some Italian relation some way down the line ) .

The Greeks showed that not talent alone will win tournaments and that being organized , courageous , dogged , resilent and many other defensive charistics are all necessary to win tournaments .

yeah, i agree with you fully there, enjoy watching good defending myself and really happy Greece won. i knew they were a hard working team way before the tournament got underway and there is always at least one team that does much better then expected and surprises everyone - Greece seemed the best of the not so expected to be good teams imo...

Greece have bascially shown Europe that teamwork & 100% effort > big name players with big egos & big club paychecks that in turn provide little teamwork and effort

it's amazing how many players on the Greece team aren't first choice for their clubs and would probably be way down the list on the clubs salary costs - goes to show what becoming too big and getting paid way too much does to some players teamwork rate...

gandalf

Fair Play to Greece the better team won on the day.

I can't understand all the whingers going on about this being a rubbish tournament. It had one of the best games I've seen in years in the Hollan vs Czech Republic and had several other exciting games. Some good goals and some excellent defending (mainly from the Greeks). If the Italians defended like that half of you would have been raving.

The only thing I'm pissed off about is not throwing a few quid on them !!!

Gordon will the Greeks finish the Stadiums in time now

Dewey

I cant belive Greece won. Its worst for me because i had a €5 on Portugal at the start of the tourament. I expected a poor final and i got one. i belive Greece only had 1 shot on goal, but Portugal were poor themselfs but credit to Greece for defending Brilliantly.

Here's a question:

Deco, how did he play the full 90mins?? I dont think i have seen a worst over-rated player in this tourament. I hope Chelsea pay £20million for him because he wouldnt last the season with all that diving.

This was ANOTHER poor tourament. After the World Cup 2 years ago with all the shocks its happened again only this time Greece have won the damn tourament.
Makes you think how well Ireland could of done.

Pigman II

Yes, it's amazing what can still happen if you have the guts NOT to sack your manager after he loses his opening two qualifiers!

eirebhoy

Originally posted by Dewey
This was ANOTHER poor tourament. After the World Cup 2 years ago with all the shocks its happened again only this time Greece have won the damn tourament.

Yeah, if France won it it would have been so much better. Football is a lot more exciting when its easy to predict.:rolleyes:

Dewey

Originally posted by eirebhoy
Yeah, if France won it it would have been so much better. Football is a lot more exciting when its easy to predict.:rolleyes:

No, If France/Italy/England/Spain/Holland had of played to there full potential then we would of had a much better tourament. I'm not saying it was rubbish, because the Holland vs. Czechs match was one of the best and i enjoyed Denmark v. Sweden i'm just saying if the players had of played to there potential then the tourament would of been alot better.

therecklessone

Euro 2004 was an average tournament illuminated by some magic moments. Its another example of how the standard of football has slipped recently, certainly since the WC 2002.

That said, its a huge achievment for Greece to win the tournament, and they fully deserved it. They've beaten Portugal twice, France and the highly-fancied Czechs, and drawn with the Spanish. Boring football? They managed to score in every match, didn't they?

Portugal were woeful. None of their big names performed on the night. Deco is a wate of space, Ronaldo was listless and Figo had the look of a man who knew he's just blown his last chance.

The match was worth watching just to see Ronaldo blubbering at the end...:D

StickyMcGinty

When the greek fans were interviewed on SSN today before the game, he was asked for his prediction....

he said "We will win 5-3 on penalties"

sums up greece really....

Pigman II

Originally posted by Dewey
Its worst for me because i had a €5 on Portugal at the start of the tourament.

Really? And here was I thinking it would be worst for the Portugese people themselves.

Originally posted by Dewey
Makes you think how well Ireland could of done. [/B]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves! If Ireland could play even half as well as Greece did in this tournament then I'd be amazed. And it's not the Irish lads fault either, it's the conditions of their workplace ... ie the premiershit. If the Greeks proved anything in this tournament its that if average players can get regular exposure to Champions League football then it will be extremly beneficial to them when dealing with the opposition their gonna face in a tournament such as this.

damnyanks

Its great the way some people try to take on the persona of Eamon Dunphy here and bitch about the tournament the exact same way as him. Or perhaps he was correct? Defensive football is when a team sits back in their own quater and letting the opponents take shots / crosses. Its happened many a time to Ireland against the likes of Macedonia.

Greece held their half of the park, they attacked the ball. They proved finally by beating Portugal x 2, France & the Czechs that they are not some fluke team. Quality over quantity with regards to the greeks shots on goals. They could of just blasted them anywhere like a few of the portugese shots. This is the second time within the space of a month they have beaten Portugal.

It was an entertaining tournament with a few bad games which cant be helped considering the amount that were played. The final game itself was not a bad game, perhaps it lacked in oodles and oodles of shots in the direction of the goal like some games but it wasnt some team holding the ball up trying to hang onto their lead for 35 minutes.

Defensive football is what england did when they would take the lead. They have better players on paper and they were knocked out. Greece must be doing something right. So please if you want to paraphrase Eamon Dunphy or coin it off as your own opinion dont bother. Its been said in each and every greek thread and how they would get knocked out soon.

They are the champions of Europe. They played to their strenghts. They played well and deserved it, they beat the hosts twice. They beat 3 of the 4 winners of each group and they kept a clean sheet in each game of the knock out stages.

knobbles

They've beatin the hosts Portugal, the holders France and the tournaments best Czech Rep. No doubt they're worthy champs.

With that acknowledged, it's a bit of a let down seeing so many big teams not performing in the last two tournaments. It was a pretty exciting tournament up to the 1st quater-final between England and Portugal but the memorable games ended there....it's the stage where they should be getting better.

well i guess you could compare the emotions of the Greek fans to that of our fans in Italia 90 - don't care if it's unattractive, as long as your team plays out of their skins and gets results. They must be all on planet Pluto tonight.

Pigman II

Originally posted by knobbles
They must be all on planet Pluto tonight.

Strangly appropriate that you should mention Pluto

eirebhoy

One good thing we/Ireland can take from this is the only team to beat Greece was Russia. The Russian's restored a bit of pride into our national team by beating them.

knobbles

Originally posted by Pigman II
Strangly appropriate that you should mention Pluto

oops!

and so it begins...

knobbles

Originally posted by eirebhoy
One good thing we/Ireland can take from this is the only team to beat Greece was Russia. The Russian's restored a bit of pride into our national team by beating them.

mmm, nah, we were just crap in those qualifiers.

Reminds you that some Russian player was an inch away from sliding in to score a 3rd, injury time, goal against Greece and knock them out instead of Spain.

Guy:Incognito

I challenge anyone to remember a tournament where evryone played to their potential, it just doesnt happen. Just like over the course of a season evryone has days or spells where they dont play well. Its a bit unrealistic to expect that every player will play to their absolute best in EVERY game they play.

Al of us , in our various professions have off days, and people are expecting that 11 people will all have their best days at exactly the same time when they play together.


and in defense of Greeces' (no pun intended) defensive style, theres a place for every style and it shouldnt be a problem for all these attacking stars today. If the best attackers in the world who are earning the types of money that Figo, Zidane eetc are earning cant break down the relative unknown defenders of Greece then tough luck, my heart bleeds for them. There always has been and always will be a place for defensiv estyles. People would soon be up in arms if every team played like they were managed by Kevin Keegan. Its about winning, not looking good.

Makaveli

Originally posted by bazH
the most exciting thing was the lad running into the net

Sadly, this is true.

Also, although it's wrong, I feel happy about him throwing the Barcelona flag at Figo. I know it was out of order, but still...
And I know Barcelona accpeted the offer from Real Madrid, but I always felt Figo betrayed Barcelona when he left. Even thought it wasn't really down to him I lost a lot of respect for him when he signed for the arch rivals.

A dire match though, it has to be said.

Respect where it's due to Greece I suppose, but the fact they are European champions is a joke. The big teams, well supposedly big teams, played shit, and overall I thought it was a crappy tournament, much like the last World Cup.

I mean ffs, Greece, Euro 2004 champions.

Guy:Incognito

Originally posted by Makaveli



Respect where it's due to Greece I suppose, but the fact they are European champions is a joke. .

If Ireland had won the world cup two years ago, there wouldnt have been one person on here giving out that we didnt deserve it or that it was making a mokery of the world cup, so why begrudge a team who played to their strenghts and beat the best teams in the tournament to win it.

redspider

GR 1-0 PT

Holyfcukilopolis ...... The Greeks have done it again!

I for one am not a fan of their style of football. I of course applaud their defensive qualities which they executed all over the park and they have shown a point that I have brought up on several threads - that good teamwork can beat star individuals.

However, as a spectacle the final was poor. Lets look at some facts. Greece only had 4 attempts on goal in the whole match and only one of those was on target - just one, the goal! The goal itself was littered with defensive errors by Portugal. The keeper had lost the plot completely, the PT defence was poorly setup, low in numbers and didnt go to the ball. It was just an ok header and if Ricardo would have stayed on his line instead of hiding he would have saved it easily.

I agree to some extent that the money at the club level has affected the star players performances and most definitely team work at international level. The German coach though should get a lot of plaudits for his choice of tactics and the GR players for their execution of those tactics. It was not pretty to watch and I think most of the neutrals in the world would have been hoping that PT, a small nation themselves and not a big gun, would have won it.

Its unclear where football will go from here. Was there a lot of luck with GR's win? If all teams play like this what will happen? It is a difficult tactic to pull off, and remember, Greece were just one goal away from being knocked out in the group stage and have only mustered a few goals since then. Not exactly world beaters.

I would have been 110% behind GR if they would have won the tournament say in the style fo Denmark in 1992, or if they had played like CZ in this tournament, but just the way the won could and the similar approach of teams like England, and even PT who defended a 2-1 lead, doesn't auger well for the sport.

I am in favour of changing the rules to give some recognition for attacking play, such as points for shots (which would come into affect if the game was tied). It might put a different slant on things and encourage teams to attack (and get points) rather than defend doggedly and hope to score a goal on a set piece, free kick or wait until a penalty shoot-out.

For me too, the best game was CZ-NL and CZ were the team of the tournament, who deserved to beat GR.

Makaveli

If Ireland had won the World Cup two years ago then IMO it would have been a joke. Of course I wouldn't begrudge them, but I'd know that once again the better teams performed badly.

I'm not a fan of defensive football, at all. Supporting Liverpool as you do and as I do, and watching them, it's an awful sight. It is IMO such a turn off. Fair play to the Greeks, they got the tactics bang on and they do deserve the credit for winning, but their play is so negative.

Hindsight is great, but if Spain weren't sloppy in the game against the Greeks then they wouldn't have made it out of the group. I'm bitter over this tournament, I wont deny it. I thought Spain would finally make their mark and they didn't. The Italians were crap, the French were crap, the Dutch were crap. Portugal weren't even that good. The Czechs were the team I would have liked to see win it because they played nice football. They attacked, they didn't sit back and hope to score on the counter or through set pieces.
We all know that attractive football wont always do the job, and Greece proved that in this tournament, but they are not a nice team to watch.

IMO, if any team deserved it, it was the Czech Republic, but it wasn't to be.

Guy:Incognito

Originally posted by redspider
GR 1-0 PT

I am in favour of changing the rules to give some recognition for attacking play, such as points for shots (which would come into affect if the game was tied).

you cant do that, especially in internationals. If a country isnt blessed with a world class team, Ireland being a good example over the last 20 or so year, but haveone or two in the team, they have to play to their strenghts to win anything and avoiod getting hammered. If Greece were faced with that they would have gone out. They simpley could attack cvonstantly against a team with the attacking capabilites of france. Tou cant discriminate against a team because they dont play the type of football you want to see. If everyone played the exact same way people would be giving out a lot more and it would lead to worse games and tournaments.

knobbles

Originally posted by Stekelly
If Ireland had won the world cup two years ago, there wouldnt have been one person on here giving out that we didnt deserve it or that it was making a mokery of the world cup, so why begrudge a team who played to their strenghts and beat the best teams in the tournament to win it.

...i think we all applaude the Greeks, but many of us are just saying it was an anti-climax - the final and much of the tournament. These tournaments come around every two years, bringing most of the worlds best footballers to their greatest stage and when so many don't perform it's disappointing. Greece, it must be said, did a great job at stopping Portugal, Czech and France from excelling but as a neutral I was disapointed not to have a Czech-France semi, then I was disappointed not have a Czech-Portugal final.

No begrudging here at all, Greece did their job, I'm just disapponinted the more exciting teams failed to do theirs.
Again, it's all a bit of an anti-climax.

Guy:Incognito

Originally posted by knobbles
[B I was disapointed not to have a Czech-France semi, then I was disappointed not have a Czech-Portugal final.

[/B]

why? so that we could watch the french poncing around the pitch with their "were the best in the world so we should nt even have to play to go home with the trophy" attitude. Thgey were crap to look at as well and got what they deserved. At least what we got to see was 11 players giving 100% through the tournament.

knobbles

Originally posted by Makaveli

...if Spain weren't sloppy in the game against the Greeks then they wouldn't have made it out of the group. I'm bitter over this tournament, I wont deny it. I thought Spain would finally make their mark and they didn't....

....if any team deserved it, it was the Czech Republic, but it wasn't to be.

agreed on all parts

knobbles

Originally posted by Stekelly
why? so that we could watch the french poncing around the pitch with their "were the best in the world so we should nt even have to play to go home with the trophy" attitude. Thgey were crap to look at as well and got what they deserved. At least what we got to see was 11 players giving 100% through the tournament.

that's kinda my point, they've some of the best players in the world and they didnt perform, as you said they were crap to look at. They deserved to loose.

It was harsh on the Czechs though, and i still say i'm dsiappointed they didnt win their semi and face Portugal in the final

MisterAnarchy

If Ireland had won the world cup two years ago, there wouldnt have been one person on here giving out that we didnt deserve it or that it was making a mokery of the world cup, so why begrudge a team who played to their strenghts and beat the best teams in the tournament to win it.

Ireland played attacking football in the World Cup as they were behind in 3 of their 4 matches .
In fact they dominated play in all their matches.
They also scored in all their games .
To compare Ireland's play to a Greek team who relied on set pieces to progress and had 10 men behind the ball for most of their matches is unfair.

damnyanks

Originally posted by MisterAnarchy
Ireland played attacking football in the World Cup as they were behind in 3 of their 4 matches .
In fact they dominated play in all their matches.
They also scored in all their games .
To compare Ireland's play to a Greek team who relied on set pieces to progress and had 10 men behind the ball for most of their matches is unfair.

If Greece had been in the position that they were chasing the game perhaps they would of changed tactics. Perhaps if they had not scored Portugal would of won etc.

Point is they never found themselves in that situation during the knock out stages. Greece scored in all their games as well, they even went on to win the competition!:)

When the Greeks had the ball they tried to do something with it. There tactics were sound, thats why they won

Big Ears

People are giving out about Greece being negative , but how the **** else do u expect them to win it .

Charisteas is no Ronaldo , Giannakoplis is no Pires , but they're strenghts are in they're defensive players Basinas , Zagorakis , Dellas , Seiteridis , have played better than any defensive midifeld or defender has in this tournament .

next thing people will be complaining that not enough goalkeepers go up for corners , or free kicks for that matter .

maybe its just me , being a defender myself , I like that part of the game aswell as the little moments of brilliance in attack .

Makaveli

For me, it's not so much the fact that Greece won it playing negative football, it's more the fact that good attacking teams player poorly in the tournament. IMO, and although it sounds bad, the favoured teams lost it more so than Greece winning it.

I'm a defender (although I like to go forward), but I hate watching defensive football. Saying that people will be complaing about goalies not going forward is stupid. What would you prefer to watch, a match with two ultra defensive teams, waiting for the other to slip up or a match with two teams going all out for the win and getting forward and attacking?

Big Ears

Most likely id prefer the attacking match , but bad defenses make me cringe .

Gordon

WOOHOO!!! Not much sleep last night, it was pretty tricky with the car horns and guns going off in the night!

"Oli Evropi einai ble, einai ble, einai ble-e-e

All of Europe i-is blue, she is blue, she is blue-ue-ue

-Hey, Europe is female?
-Yeah, didn't you know Europe is a broad."

I'd say this is giving Greece a bit of a pull for the Olympics now, maybe people will keep the solidarity and reply to any phone calls from the Olympic committee asking for volunteers for the Olympics, and say "Yes sure, I will volunteer for the Olympics".

Great game, the playing wasn't spectacular but I'm dead chuffed that Greece won.