The Greek victory in the Euro 2004 football tournament is a wonderful boost, not just for the Greeks but for all who love sport and the unique opportunity it gives nations to pit themselves against each other in a peaceful and sportsman-like manner. There is also something hugely appealing about a team which had never before won a major international match coming from nowhere to defeat some of the strongest national football teams and goes on to final championship glory.
The triumph of the Greek footballers also says something about “expert” commentators. The Greek challenge was widely seen as a joke. Greek league teams were reluctant to let players go to play in Portugal because they saw the disruptions to their own schedules as pointless. Even the national team’s supporters did not rate its chances. In among the delirious celebrations when the players defeated France, the existing European champions, there was still widespread disbelief that it could really have happened.
While our hearts must go out to Portugal, who so admirably organized the tournament and came so close to grasping the crown, there is no getting away from the achievement of the Greek team. And “team” is the right word, because none of the Greek players was known as a star in the same way as Beckham of England or Zidane of France, Ballack of Germany or Ronaldo of Portugal. Under its German coach Otto Rehagel, the Greek squad simply worked together to prove that its unity produced a team that was greater than the sum of its parts.
The outstanding lesson of this dogged unity of purpose should be carried far beyond the pitch of Lisbon’s Stadium of Light to wherever in the world countries face seemingly impossible challenges, not least of all to Iraq.
What this magnificent achievement will do for Greece itself as it prepares to host the Olympics is likely to be extraordinary. There will have been some very tired workers on the Olympic construction sites yesterday morning after a long night of celebrations. Although major concerns remain about the chances of all the work being completed by the time the Games open in just 38 days’ time, the odds on this happening must surely have improved. Morale in Greece has gone through the roof, and everyone responsible for the preparations for the world’s greatest sporting event will be setting to with a will. It seems unthinkable that there will be further threats of damaging industrial action. Any hard-line union leaders who imagine that they can still blackmail the organizers into further payments will be going against the euphoric national tide. Soaring Greek pride now demands that the work be done on time.
Meanwhile we must all take comfort in what Greece’s footballers achieved in Portugal. Even people who care little for football recognize that the Greek triumph is a victory for all who face seemingly insuperable odds. More significantly perhaps is the fact that this momentous win was pulled off by a group of men who the experts said did not have a chance.
