Greece national football team. EURO 2008. Group D

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The Greece national football team is the national football team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation. Greece had previously participated in a European Championship only in Euro 1980, but their first win did not come until the first match of Euro 2004, a 2-1 win over the hosts Portugal. Greece went on to win the tournament, stunning defending champions France in the quarterfinals and the heavily favoured Czech Republic in the semifinals before beating Portugal for 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.

1980 European Football Championship

Greece made its first appearance in a major tournament at the Euro 1980 in Italy after qualifying as first - under the guidance of Alketas Panagoulias - from a group that included USSR and Hungary, both world powers back then. Greece was drawn into group A with West Germany, the Netherlands, and Czechoslovakia in the final tournament. In their first game, Greece held the Dutch 0-0 until 65' when the only goal of the game was scored by Kist . After halting the Czechoslovakians to a 1-1 at the end the first half, Greece eventually lost 3-1. In their last game, Greece earned a 0-0 draw against eventually winners West Germany culminating what was considered a decent overall performance in the team's maiden presence in a final phase of any football competition.

World Cup 1994

The team's success in qualifying for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA, marked the first time they had made it to the FIFA World Cup finals. Greece finished first and undefeated in their qualifying group, surpassing Russia in the final game. In the final tournament Greece were drawn into group D with Nigeria , Bulgaria , and Argentina. 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 World Cup history.

Near misses

Greece failed to qualify for the Euro 1996 finishing 3rd in the group behind Russia and Scotland.

In their 1998 World Cup qualifying tournament the team finished only one point shy of second placed Croatia as, despite a plethora of missed chances, it was halted to a 0-0 draw by the eventual Group winners, the Danish national football team.

In their Euro 2000 qualifying group, Greece finished again in third place.

In the 2002 World Cup qualifying Greece finished a disappointing fourth in their group behind England, Germany and Finland. Highlights of the campaign were the humiliating 5-1 defeat in Helsinki and the 2-2 draw that followed in England both the first 2 games of the soon to become legendary German coach at the reigns of Greek national team.

Euro 2004 triumph

Greece started the qualification process for the Euro 2004 in poor fashion losing at home to Spain and away to Ukraine both times with a 2-0 scoreline.

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 from a corner by Angelos Basinas. Greece held on to win 1-0, winning the tournament, an achievement considered by many to be one of the greater, if not the greatest, football upset in history. Captain Zagorakis was named the man of the tournament, having led Greece and made the most tackles in the entire tournament.

2005 Confederation Cup

As Euro 2004 winners, Greece qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany. Greece were drawn into Group A along with 2002 World Cup champions Brazil, 2004 Asian champions Japan, and 2003 North America champions Mexico. Greece lost 3-0 to Brazil and 1-0 to Japan and drew 0-0 with Mexico in a tournament.

World Cup 2006

After winning the Euro 2004 , Greece were considered favourites to top their group, in the 2006 World Cup qualifyings . The team was drawn into Group 2 along with Ukraine, Turkey, Denmark, Albania, Georgia and Kazakhstan in what was considered the toughest qualifying group.

There was a dissatisfaction with the selection of the team by Otto Rehhagel throughout qualification campaign from some journalists as they argued that he was sticking to exactly the same Euro 2004 squad even though some players weren't even having a club and was overlooking others most notably Ieroklis Stoltidis of Olympiacos and Akis Zikos of Monaco .

On May 25, 2006, less than a month before the opening of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Greece lost 1-0 to Australia in a friendly match in front of 95,103 people at the MCG.

Euro 2008

Greece was the highest ranked seed in the 'pots' for qualification to the UEFA Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria and was drawn with Turkey, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Moldova and Malta being the only group which did not have a team represented in the World Cup 2006.

The draw for the Euro 2008 finals was held on December 2 in Switzerland , Greece were drawn in Group D along with Sweden , Spain , and Russia . In preparation for the tournament, Greece defeated Portugal 2-1 on March 26 , 2008 , in a repeat of the Euro 2004 opening and final match; as a result, Greece moved up to a record 8th position in the FIFA world ranking.

Euro 2008 Squard