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{{nat fs g player|no=16|pos=MF|name=[[Pantelis Kafes]]|caps=30|goals=3|age=[[24 June]] [[1978]] |club={{flagicon|Greece}} [[Olympiacos]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=16|pos=MF|name=[[Pantelis Kafes]]|caps=30|goals=3|age=[[24 June]] [[1978]] |club={{flagicon|Greece}} [[Olympiacos]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=17|pos=MF|name=[[Theofanis Gekas]]|caps=11|goals=0|age=[[23 May]] [[1980]] |club={{flagicon|Germany}} [[VfL Bochum]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=17|pos=MF|name=[[Theofanis Gekas]]|caps=11|goals=0|age=[[23 May]] [[1980]] |club={{flagicon|Germany}} [[VfL Bochum]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=18|pos=DF|name=[[Ioannis Goumas]]|caps=39|goals=0|age=[[24 May]] [[1975]] |club={{flagicon|Greece}} [[Panathinaikos]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=18|pos=DF|name=[[Yannis Goumas]]|caps=39|goals=0|age=[[24 May]] [[1975]] |club={{flagicon|Greece}} [[Panathinaikos]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=19|pos=DF|name=[[Michalis Kapsis]]|caps=33|goals=1|age=[[18 October]] [[1973]] |club={{flagicon|Greece}} [[Olympiacos]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=19|pos=DF|name=[[Michalis Kapsis]]|caps=33|goals=1|age=[[18 October]] [[1973]] |club={{flagicon|Greece}} [[Olympiacos]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=20|pos=MF|name=[[Ioannis Amanatidis]]|caps=14|goals=0|age=[[3 December]] [[1981]] |club={{flagicon|Germany}} [[Eintracht Frankfurt]]}}
{{nat fs g player|no=20|pos=MF|name=[[Ioannis Amanatidis]]|caps=14|goals=0|age=[[3 December]] [[1981]] |club={{flagicon|Germany}} [[Eintracht Frankfurt]]}}

Revision as of 23:01, 19 November 2006

Greece
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Το Πειρατικό
("The Pirate Ship")
AssociationHellenic Football Federation
Head coachGermany Otto Rehhagel, 2001-
CaptainAntonis Nikopolidis
Most capsTheodoros Zagorakis (119)
Top scorerNikos Anastopoulos (29)
FIFA codeGRE
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current14
Highest12 (April 2005)
Lowest66 (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
Appearances1 (first in 1994)
Best resultRound 1, 1994
European Championship
Appearances2 (first in 1980)
Best resultWinners, 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 Euro 2004, 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 but failed to do so. In their first game against Argentina, Greece lost 4-0. Four days later Greece suffered another 4-0 blow from Bulgaria and in their final game lost to Nigeria 2-0. In the end, Greece were eliminated in the first round by losing all three games, scoring no goals and conceding 10, thus 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

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) and the World Championship of 2006 (2nd). 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 25 May 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 consecutive victories over Moldova, Norway and Bosina-Herzegovina, Greece has moved up to 14th place in the October FIFA World Rankings, climbing eighteen places in two months.

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

European Championship record

Squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Antonios Nikopolidis 14 January 1971 76 0 Greece Olympiacos
2 2DF Giourkas Seitaridis 4 June 1981 46 0 Spain Atlético Madrid
3 2DF Christos Patsatzoglou 19 March 1979 18 1 Greece Olympiacos
5 2DF Traianos Dellas 31 January 1976 32 1 Greece AEK Athens
6 3MF Angelos Basinas 3 January 1976 74 4 Spain Mallorca
8 3MF Stelios Giannakopoulos 12 July 1974 64 12 England Bolton Wanderers
9 4FW Angelos Charisteas 9 February 1980 55 15 Netherlands Feyenoord Rotterdam
10 3MF Giorgos Karagounis 6 March 1977 58 4 Portugal Benfica
11 4FW Dimitrios Papadopoulos 20 October 1981 19 2 Greece Panathinaikos
12 1GK Konstantinos Chalkias 30 May 1974 5 0 Greece Aris
13 3MF Alexandros Tziolis 13 February 1985 2 0 Greece Panathinaikos
14 2DF Takis Fyssas 12 June 1973 58 4 Scotland Hearts
16 3MF Pantelis Kafes 24 June 1978 30 3 Greece Olympiacos
17 3MF Theofanis Gekas 23 May 1980 11 0 Germany VfL Bochum
18 2DF Yannis Goumas 24 May 1975 39 0 Greece Panathinaikos
19 2DF Michalis Kapsis 18 October 1973 33 1 Greece Olympiacos
20 3MF Ioannis Amanatidis 3 December 1981 14 0 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
21 3MF Kostas Katsouranis 21 June 1979 34 3 Portugal Benfica
22 4FW Dimitrios Salpigidis 10 August 1981 11 0 Greece Panathinaikos
24 2DF Loukas Vyntra 5 February 1981 10 0 Greece Panathinaikos
25 2DF Sotirios Kyrgiakos 23 July 1979 24 1 Germany Eintracht Frankfurt
27 4FW Georgios Samaras 21 February 1985 7 3 England Manchester City
28 2DF Paraskevas Antzas 18 August 1976 16 0 Greece Skoda Xanthi
29 3MF Panagiotis Lagos 18 July 1985 6 0 Greece AEK Athens
32 2DF Georgios Anatolakis 16 March 1975 14 0 Greece Olympiakos
33 4FW Nikolaos Lyberopoulos 4 September 1975 48 10 Greece AEK Athens

Past Coaches

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

Noted Players

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