I have a Greek first name! Well, kind of latin-based, but anyway...

Hey, I like to see the strategy side at work, too...but then again, I'm a stupid American, so I really can't appreciate soccer/football (does it offend the world if I call it soccer?) and its nuances...I just like teams to win with strategy, and Greece did that...

Most boring team of the tournament? Russia, Latvia, Croatia, England, Italy, France? A boring team would be one that doesn't try to play, but just attempts to destroy the opposing sides game. Greece did NOTHING of the kind. I know what ugly and destructive football is, seeing as how both Norway and Sweden sadly spent several years doing just that a few years ago (our EC 2000 was a masterpiece of boredom). The most significant marks of such a team is incredibly poor passing game and virtually no offensive creativity. I didn't just enjoy seeing Greece play for how well they worked as a team and how secure they were in their own game, but also because when they did have possession, they often showcased a brilliant passing game and their few attacks were beautifully constructed works of teamplay, compared to Portugal who were reduced to long balls into the penalty area and impossible shots from 30-40 m, virtually no co-operation at all existed in the Portuguese offense. One more admirable thing was that the entire Greek team always knew exactly how to act and counter-act in response to any given situation, it shows that they had studied the Portuguese game and players far more than the Portuguese had bothered to study them and their game.

Another mark of a team playing ugly and destructive football is a complete lack of individually skilled players, but I thought several of the greek players outshone the portuguese players in both technique and ball handling. Didn't you see that the Greeks won almost every single header? Didn't you see that they won far more 1v1 duels than the Portuguese? Didn't you see how a single Greek player dribbled his way through 2-3 Portuguese defenders more than half a dozen times?

As for Greece being lucky to go all the way, christ...

2-1 vs Portugal. Portugal were shite and definitely didn't deserve to win that one.

1-0 vs France. Same thing here, just that France were even worse than Portugal. Greece displayed their fine passing game and ball handling as early as here.

1-0 vs Czech Republic. Not much to say, they met the by far best team of the tournament (so far), and Greece stripped down the Czech game completely. For the Czechs this was at best an open game, since, with exception for the first 5 minutes, they got absolutely nowhere in the Greek defense, while the Greek offense caused quite a bit of disturbance in the Czech defense. Greece scoring 5 seconds before the whistle doesn't make this a lucky or undeserved victory by any means, particularly not since they had a few dangerous chances right before the goal.

I don't totaly agree with Johny, but i really don't think Greece deserved to win this chapionship (anyone who made a bet on them is a rich man [img]tongue.gif[/img] ). What i think Greece managed to proove is that ambition is very important in football. They don't play spectacular (or even very well organised) but they just don't give up and they don't panic if they see the other team is better (they would have lost easily to France if they did)

Disgracefull result. Bunker all the way. Yuck.

Portugal had to win. I am totally with the guy that "scored" for portugal and threw on fibo some cloth.

I'd like to see them fall behind 1-0 in a do or die situation, because i don't think their tactical playbook covers such a situation. Then they would actually have to leave the trenches and go on the offensive, and we all saw what happens if the Greeks think they are the better side in the match against the Russians.... they can't handle situations like that.

Rataxes, you say they stripped down the Czech offence ? You're completely ignoring all the missed opportunities from the Czechs, opportunities that would have gone in, with just a little more luck. If at the end the score would have been 3-0 or 4-0 for the Czechs, everyone would have said that it was a well deserved win. Same story, be it a little less obvious, against France, and even against the Spanish. They're lucky bastards, that's all.

You gotta be 100% Greek to enjoy that kind of football and get exited about it, because i wouldn't go see one of their matches if they paid me to go.

[ 07-05-2004, 06:02 AM: Message edited by: johnny ]

I know dozens of people who agree that the Greeks played superbly, were more lethal on the offense than Portugal, and overall, were fairly appealing to watch. Coincidently, I don't know anyone with even partial heritage to Greece.

Yeah I think Greece completely stripped down the Czech offense. Did Baros do anything really lethal at all in this game for instance? The Czechs had very good pressure the first 5-10 minutes with good chances, but after that they produced very little. UEFA states that they had 5 shots on goal, well 3 of those came in the first 10 minutes, that leaves 2 shots on goal in 95 minutes. Hardly lethal offense is it? Sure they had lots of shots, but that was a direct result of the tight Greek defense that basically made shots from way outside the penalty area their only option, we saw the same thing with Portugal in the final, reduced to shooting and shooting over and over again. Greece had as many good chances to score as the Czechs, maybe even more. The Czechs looked especially tame after Nedved left.

[ 07-05-2004, 06:19 AM: Message edited by: Rataxes ]

First of all, congratulations to Greece. Irrespective of their playing style, it's good to see one of the minnows win a big tournament - it's good for the development of the game worldwide. That's one for the Gipper. Or Gipperopoulos, anyway. :D

Secondly, on the playing style, they certainly don't play like Holland, or the Czech Republic, or Portugal, or Brazil, or Argentina, or any of the gun glamour sides of the world, but what they do, they do well. They've got a simple strategy - execute the fundamentals of their defence well, and wait for opportunities at the other end. Not to everyone's taste - not to my taste. BUT I think it's a bit slack to not give them any credit for executing their gameplan well and playing to their strengths. At the end of the day they have the trophy, and winners are grinners while losers can please themselves. Everyone played the same number of games, everyone had the same number of players on the pitch. Portugal had chances to win and didn't. Besides, Italy have been playing that way, with their catannacio tactics since forever. :D

Also, they did beat some good sides on their way to the final, including Portugal twice. If anything this shows how overrated Portugal is - no point looking pretty if you're not going to do anything with it. Spain are the same - what a disgrace to football. :rolleyes:

Johnny, I know you don't like Greece's style, mate, which is cool :D but you sound like one of these blokes at the moment:

http://www.artthrob.co.za/01july/images/grapes01a.jpg

:D :D :D

[ 07-05-2004, 06:59 AM: Message edited by: Memnoch ]

Gee...dunno...how do green guys sound ? :D

LOL johnny just think of Tim Duncan. hahaha :D

Greece may have removed the fun factor, but they I would also like to see them to bounce back rather than "try to end this with a draw if we cannot score; or if we score let's lock it down" strategy.

So much for fun factor... well I guess the new thing players have to master is to evade the defensive overload by the opposing team- may it be the Greeks or some other who'll adapt the system. Now that'd be fun to watch hahaha

I don't have a Greek name really, neither first or second name... my dad is English therefore we took on his last name which is Pankhurst.