The Outsider That Kept Ruining Everyone's Predictions

1. A team without a champion's reputation

Greece entered EURO 2004 without a history of winning matches at major tournaments. Portugal hosted the competition, and several established powers attracted far greater expectations. Otto Rehhagel's team arrived with organisation and a plan, rather than the assumption that reputation would carry them.

The outsiders had brought tactics instead of a favourite's label.

2. The opening match breaks expectations

Greece defeated Portugal in the tournament's first match. Beating the hosts immediately made the team impossible to ignore. It was still only a group-stage result, however, and turning an upset into a long tournament run required more than repeating the opening celebration.

The first surprise had earned attention, not a place in the final.

3. The group does not become effortless

A draw with Spain and defeat by Russia followed. Greece progressed from the group through the competition's qualifying calculations. The mixed results matter because the title run was not an uninterrupted sequence of easy victories from the first whistle onward.

The eventual champions had already discovered that the route could stay narrow.

4. France face a different problem

In the quarter-final, Greece met defending champions France. The contrast in public expectations was considerable. Greece's disciplined organisation made the match about finding a workable opening rather than exchanging reputations or trying to imitate the opponent's preferred style.

The favourite still needed to solve the actual defence in front of it.

5. A header sends the holders home

Angelos Charisteas scored the goal that defeated France. The one-nil result moved Greece into the semi-final. Another single match had changed the tournament's expected route, showing that the opening upset was part of a team capable of repeating difficult performances.

The holders had become another chapter in the outsider's progress.

6. The semi-final waits for a late decision

The Czech Republic presented another highly regarded opponent. The match remained scoreless through normal time. Greece again sustained the contest long enough for one opening to become decisive, keeping an opponent's attacking reputation separate from what the scoreboard actually showed.

The longer the game stayed level, the less useful predictions became.

7. A silver goal closes the half

Traianos Dellas scored near the end of the first half of extra time. Under the silver-goal rule then in use, Greece's lead at that interval ended the match. The unusual regulation supplied a very specific route from one header to a place in the final.

The whistle arrived before the opponent could start another half.

8. The final repeats the opening fixture

Greece faced Portugal again, this time for the title in Lisbon. The hosts had recovered from the first defeat and reached a second meeting on a much larger stage. Greece's original upset could now become either a preliminary curiosity or the beginning of a completed championship story.

The tournament had arranged to ask its opening question once more.

9. The answer is another Greek goal

Charisteas headed the final's only goal, and Greece won one-nil. The outsiders became European champions by defeating the hosts twice in the same competition. The result followed a sequence of tightly controlled knockout matches rather than one isolated lucky evening.

The opening upset had acquired a trophy at its other end.

10. The result the forecasts missed

Greece's achievement did not require becoming the most glamorous team in the tournament. It required advancing under the rules and winning each decisive match. The surprise lay in how repeatedly an organised team could frustrate opponents expected to travel farther.

The favourites kept arriving. Greece kept sending them home.

Sources

• Wikipedia contributors: UEFA Euro 2004