Greece national football team

Greece

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	Το Πειρατικό ("The Pirate Ship")
Association	Hellenic Football Federation
Head coach	Otto Rehhagel, 2001-
Captain	Antonis Nikopolidis
Most caps	Theodoros Zagorakis (119)
Top scorer	Nikolaos Anastopoulos (29)
FIFA code	GRE
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	22
Highest	12 (April 2005)
Lowest	66 (September 1998)
First international
Template:Country data Greece old Greece 1 - 4 Italy Template:Country data Italy old (Athens, Greece; 7 April, 1929)
Biggest win
Template:Country data Greece old Greece 8 - 0 Syria Template:Country data Syria old (Athens, Greece; 25 November, 1949)
Biggest defeat
Template:Country data Greece old Greece 1 - 11 Hungary Template:Country data Hungary old (Budapest, Hungary; 25 March, 1938)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 1994)
Best result	Round 1, 1994
European Championship
Appearances	2 (first in 1980)
Best result	Winners, 2004

The Greece national football team is the national football team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation. They are the reigning European Champions.

Greece's first appearance in a major tournament was Euro 80, but their first win in a major tournament did not come until the first match of Template:Ec2, a 2-1 win over the hosts Portugal. The Greeks went on to win the tournament, stunning defending champions France in the quarterfinals and the heavily favored Czech Republic in the semifinals before beating Portugal a second time, 1-0, in the final. Bookmakers were giving odds of about 80-1 to 150-1 for the Greeks before the tournament.

On 3 July 2006, FIFA suspended all institutions connected with the Hellenic Football Federation, including the Greek national team, from international football with immediate effect, citing the federation for not being sufficiently independent from the Greek government. [1] [2] Fifa overturned the suspension after Greece's parliament voted in favour of an amendment to the offending laws.

History

1980 European Football Championship

Greece made its first appearance in a major tournament at the 1980 European Football Championship in Italy. In the competition, Greece were drawn into group A with West Germany, the Netherlands, and Czechoslovakia. In their first game with the Netherlands, Greece held the Dutch 0-0 until halftime, however the Dutch eventually triumphed after winning the game 1-0. Three days later Greece played Czechoslovakia in Rome. After keeping the Czechoslovakians to a 1-1 draw in the first half, Greece eventually lost 3-1. In their last game, Greece earned a 0-0 draw against West Germany, after the latter had already qualified. Greece were therefore eliminated with one point from three matches.

After appearing at Euro 80, Greece did not qualify for another major tournament for fourteen years.

World Cup 1994

Greece qualified for 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA for the first time. They finished first in their qualifying group surpassing Russia. In the final tournament Greece were drawn into group D with Nigeria, Bulgaria, and Argentina. After having a successful qualifying campaign, Greece were determined to make an impact. In their first game against Argentina, Greece lost 4-0. Four days later Greece suffered another 4-0 blow from Bulgaria. In their final game Greece lost to Nigeria 2-0. In the end, Greece were eliminated in the first round losing all three games and scoring no goals and conceding 10, making one of the worst records in the history of World Cup.

1994 to 2004

Greece failed to qualify for Euro 96. In their World Cup 1998 qualifying tournament Greece were only one point away from qualifying for the tournament in France just behind Croatia for second place. In their Euro 2000 qualifying group, Greece finished again in third, two points behind second place finishers Slovenia. In the 2002 World Cup qualifying Greece finished fourth in their group.

Euro 2004 triumph

File:Greeceeuro2004.jpg

The Greek team after winning the Euro 2004 tournament

Greece made it to Euro 2004 after surpassing Spain in their qualifying group.

In the final tournament Greece were drawn in to Group A with Spain, Portugal, and Russia. Greece was one of the lowest ranked teams in the tournament and were not expected to even make an impact.

In the opening match against Portugal, Greece achieved a surprise victory by beating the hosts 2-1. After this win, the team was nicknamed "the pirate ship" by Greek sportscaster George Helakis. The nickname was inspired by the opening ceremony, which was held just before the game, and involved a ship floating on the football field (a homage to Portugal's history of exploration). Greece were portrayed as the pirates who surprised the opponents and "stole" the win from their hands, a theme that would repeat itself throughout the tournament.

Four days later, Greece stunned Spain in front of a majority Spanish crowd to a 1-1 draw after being down 1-0 at the half. Angelos Charisteas scored a goal between the legs of the Spanish goalkeeper Casillas. In the last group game, Greece went down quickly 2-0 to Russia (who were already eliminated). Greece pulled one back on a goal by Vryzas which was set up by a Papadopoulos header. Without that goal, Greece would have been eliminated. Greece and Spain had a 0 goal differential, but Greece took second place in the group on goals scored (four for Greece, while only two for Spain).

In the quarterfinals Greece faced off with the reigning champions France. At 65', Greece took the lead when captain Zagorakis flicked the ball high in the air, defeated veteran french defender Bixente Lizarazu, retained possession and then sent a perfect cross to Charisteas for the header. Greece held on to win, knocking France out of the Euro 2004 and becoming the first team ever to defeat both the hosts and defending champions in the same tournament.

Greece reached the semifinals to face the Czech Republic, who were the only team to defeat all their opponents to this point, including a convincing 3-2 win over the Netherlands, a 2-1 win over Germany, and 3-0 win over Denmark in the quarterfinals. After 90 minutes the game ended 0-0. In the first half of extra time, a close range silver goal header from Dellas off a corner ended the Czech campaign, putting Greece in the final of Euro 2004.

For the first time in history (a recurring theme in this tournament), the final was a repeat of the opening game with Greece and hosts Portugal facing off in a rematch. In the 57th minute, Charisteas gave Greece the lead with a header off of a corner by Basinas. Greece held on 1-0 to win the final of Euro 2004. Captain Zagorakis was named the man of the tournament.

Aftermath

Greece's victory shot them up in the FIFA World Rankings from 35th in June 2004 to 14th in July 2004. This is believed to be the largest upward move in a single month in the top echelon of the rankings.

The triumph of Greece at Euro 2004 is one of the biggest sporting achievement in the country's history for a team sport, along with the successes of the Greek basketball team in the European Championships of 1987 (1st), 1989 (2nd), 2005 (1st). The team has appeared on stamps and received medals from the President of Greece, the Archbishop of Athens, and an ecstatic ovation from the country's population which came out to see the team and the trophy from the Athens airport to the Panathinaiko Stadium where the Greek political and religious leadership was awaiting them.

The Euro 2004 winners were selected as World Team of the Year at the 2005 Laureus World Sports Awards.

As Euro 2004 winners, Greece qualified for the 2005 Confederations Cup in Germany. Greece were drawn in to group A with 2002 world champions Brazil, 2004 Asian Nations Cup champions Japan, and 2003 Gold cup champions Mexico. Greece lost 3-0 to Brazil and later 1-0 to Japan. After being already eliminated Greece avoided being the worst team in the history of the Confederations Cup by earning a 0-0 draw with Mexico. Greece ended the their campaign with a draw, two losses, and no goals.

World Cup 2006 qualifiers

After winning the Euro 2004, Greece were favorites to qualify in their group. Greece was drawn in to Group 2 with Ukraine, Turkey, Denmark, Albania, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. In their first qualifier Greece lost to Albania 2-1. Greece later drew with Turkey, Ukraine, and defeated Kazakhstan. On Feb 9, 2005 Greece defeated Denmark 2-1 to take second place, and increasing chances of qualification. Later wins against Georgia and Albania and draw with Turkey also increased these chances. However on June 8, 2005 Greece lost to Ukraine 1-0 and took the third place in the group. Greece later defeated Kazakhstan 2-1 scoring their winning goal in the 94th minute. On October 8, 2005, Greece was defeated 1-0 by Denmark in Copenhagen and chances for a qualification through a playoff were minimal. In order to make the playoff spot Greece needed a win against Georgia and needed Albania to defeat Turkey and Kazakhstan to defeat Denmark. In their last game, Greece defeated Georgia but the other games did not go in their favor. As a result Greece failed to qualify for Germany 2006.

After the 2006 qualifiers, many football analysts wondered what happened to the team and why they failed to make the subsequent World Cup after becoming European Champions. Most analysts concluded the Greek team were out of form and were without defender Trianos Dellas, and forward Angelos Charisteas in the key games.

On May 25th 2006, less than a month before the opening of the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany Greece lost 1 - 0 to Australia in a friendly in front of 95,000 people at the MCG.

After the 2006 World Cup, the Greek team fell in the World ranking from 20th in May to 32nd in July. This fall put them near the ranking they had before winning Euro 2004.

Euro 2008

Greece was the highest ranked seed in the 'pots' for qualification to 2008 European Football Championship in Switzerland and Austria. Greece was drawn with Turkey, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova and Malta. This is the only group which does not have a team represented in the World Cup 2006.

Following Greece's victory over Moldova, the former bounced back at number 22 of the Fifa World Rankings in September 2006.

Stadium

Greece have been using the Karaiskakis Stadium (Olympiacos' stadium) as their home ground since they became European Champions. They used that stadium for all the home games of the World Cup 2006 qualifying round.

In the past, Greece used several other stadiums including Kaftantzoglio, Athens Olympic Stadium, Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium, e.t.c.. For the Euro2004 qualifying round- in which Greece ended up winning the trophy- Greece used the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium (Panathinaikos' stadium) for all their home matches. During the 1990s, they mainly used the Athens Olympic Stadium. The Olympic Stadium was also used as Greece's home ground during the World Cup 2002 qualifiers.

World Cup record

• 1930 - Did not enter
• 1934 - Withdrew during qualifying
• 1938 - Did not qualify
• 1950 - Did not enter
• 1954 to 1990 - Did not qualify
• 1994 - Round 1
• 1998 to 2006 - Did not qualify

European Championship record

• 1960 - Did not qualify
• 1964 - Withdrew from qualifying
• 1968 to 1976 - Did not qualify
• 1980 - Round 1
• 1984 to 2000 - Did not qualify
• 2004 - Winners

Squad

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Antonios Nikopolidis	14 January 1971	75	0	Olympiacos
2	2DF	Giourkas Seitaridis	4 June 1981	46	0	Atlético Madrid
3	2DF	Christos Patsatzoglou	19 March 1979	18	1	Olympiacos
5	2DF	Traianos Dellas	31 January 1976	31	1	AEK Athens
6	3MF	Angelos Basinas	3 January 1976	73	4	Mallorca
8	3MF	Stelios Giannakopoulos	12 July 1974	63	12	Bolton Wanderers
9	4FW	Angelos Charisteas	9 February 1980	60	15	Feyenoord Rotterdam
10	3MF	Giorgos Karagounis	6 March 1977	57	4	Benfica
11	4FW	Dimitrios Papadopoulos	20 October 1981	19	2	Panathinaikos
12	1GK	Stefanos Kotsolis	6 May 1979	3	0	Larisa
13	1GK	Konstantinos Chalkias	30 May 1974	5	0	Aris
14	2DF	Takis Fyssas	12 June 1973	57	4	Hearts
16	3MF	Pantelis Kafes	24 June 1978	29	3	Olympiacos
19	2DF	Michalis Kapsis	18 October 1973	32	1	Olympiacos
20	3MF	Ioannis Amanatidis	3 December 1981	13	0	Eintracht Frankfurt
21	3MF	Kostas Katsouranis	21 June 1979	33	3	Benfica
22	4FW	Dimitrios Salpigidis	10 August 1981	11	0	Panathinaikos
24	2DF	Loukas Vyntra	5 February 1981	10	0	Panathinaikos
25	2DF	Sotirios Kyrgiakos	23 July 1979	23	1	Eintracht Frankfurt
27	4FW	Georgios Samaras	21 February 1985	6	3	Manchester City
28	2DF	Paraskevas Antzas	18 August 1976	16	0	Skoda Xanthi
29	3MF	Panagiotis Lagos	18 July 1985	5	0	AEK Athens
32	2DF	Georgios Anatolakis	16 March 1975	14	0	Olympiakos
33	4FW	Nikolaos Lyberopoulos	4 September 1975	47	10	AEK Athens

Past Coaches

1. Ioannis Kalafatis, 1920
2. Apostolos Nikolaidis, 1929
3. Jan Kopsiva, 1929-30
4. Svejik, 1930
5. Jan Kopsiva, 1930
   1930-31 "Τεχνική Επιτροπή"
6. Lefteris Panourgias, 1932
7. Kostas Negrepontis, 1933-34
8. Apostolos Nikolaidis, 1934-35
9. Kostas Konstantaras, 1935
10. Kischler, 1936
11. Kostas Konstantaras, 1936
    1937 None
12. Kostas Negrepontis, 1938
    1939-47 None
13. Kostas Negrepontis, 1948-50
14. Antonis Migiakis, 1951
15. Ioannis Chelmis, 1951
16. Nikos Katrantzos, 1951
17. K Negropontis & A. Migiagis, 1952
18. Antonis Migiakis, 1952-53
19. Kostas Negrepontis, 1953
20. Ioannis Chelmis, 1954
21. Antonis Migiakis, 1954-55
22. Ioannis Chelmis, 1955
23. Kostas Andritsos, 1956
24. Rino Martini, 1957-58
25. Antonis Migiakis, 1958
26. Paul Barone, 1959-60
27. Tryfonas Tzanetis, 1960-61
28. Antonis Migiakis, 1961
29. Tryfonas Tzanetis, 1962-64
30. Lakis Petropoulos & Ioannis Magiras, 1964-65
31. Panos Markovits, 1966-67
32. Lakis Petropoulos, 1967
33. Kostas Karapatis, 1968
34. Dan Georgiadis, 1968-69
35. Lakis Petropoulos, 1969-71
36. Billy Bingham, 1971-73
37. Alketas (Alkis) Panagoulias, 1973-76
38. Lakis Petropoulos, 1976-77
39. Alketas (Alkis) Panagoulias, 1977-81
40. Christos Archontidis, 1982-84
41. Miltos Papapostolou, 1984-88
42. Alekos Sofianidis, 1988-89
43. Antonis Georgiadis, 1989-91
44. Stefanos Petritsis, 1992
45. Antonis Georgiadis, 1992
46. Alketas (Alkis) Panagoulias, 1992-94
47. Kostas Polychroniou, 1994-98
48. Anghel Iordănescu, 1998-99
49. Vassilis Daniil, 1999-2001
50. Nikos Christidis, 2001
51. Otto Rehhagel, 05/09/2001 -

Noted Players

• Mimis Domazos (1959)
• Mimis Papaioannou (1963)
• Antonis Antoniadis (1972)
• Dimitris Saravakos (1982)
• Nikos Machlas (1993)
• Nikos Dabizas (1994)
• Theodoros Zagorakis (1994)
• Vassilis Tsiartas (1994)
• Demis Nikolaidis (1995)
• Grigorios Georgatos (1996)

External links

• Hellenic Football Federation
• RSSSF archive of results 1929-
• RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
• RSSSF archive of coaches 1929-