Greeks have gods on their side

Russia - 2 Greece - 1: Back in Athens the local tabloids had already elevated their adopted coach Otto Rehhagel alongside Socrates and Plato among the pantheon of great Greeks. This morning, with his side ensconced in the quarter-finals, the German will enjoy Zeus-like status.

The luck granted Greece here is reserved for those with the gods on their side. The apparently harder work had been done by the time Greece arrived on the south coast, imposing opponents in Portugal and Spain beaten and held but, in the end, they only edged through to the latter stages of their first major finals in 24 years on goals scored ahead of the Spanish.

A first defeat in nine competitive games was no way to mark the momentous achievement, and Rehhagel will have been distraught at this whimper of a performance.

France or England could await them in the quarter-finals and both will know the Greeks are better than this.

This was a pale shadow of the miserly Greek side which had sucked the life and soul out of Portugal's opening party, then frustrated the Spanish to distraction.

Traianos Dellas, once of Sheffield United, had been outstanding in the first two group games yet endured an horrific evening.

Dellas is now with Roma in Serie A, though much of his defending here was still distinctly English First Division.

He was not helped by his team-mates. Dmitri Kirichenko burst through Costas Katsouranis's early attempt to clear and, beyond the back-line, exploded the Russians' first goal of the tournament beyond the exposed Antonios Nikopolidis.

It had taken the Russian striker just 68 seconds to claim his side's first goal, the fastest ever goal in European Championships history.

There was a refreshingly cavalier attitude to Georgi Yartsev's side, their elimination after a traumatic week already confirmed, though the 10,000 Russian fans present must have wondered why their team only seem capable of excelling once they are out.

Dmitri Bulykin was ignored by Dellas to emerge from the clutter on the edge of the box and thump a header from Rolan Gusev's corner which duly extended their lead.

Andrei Karyka, ridiculously skying a volley, and Bulykin, clipping the bar, should have added a third but, for the Greeks, defence was clearly no longer an option. Zisis Vryzas beat Roman Sharonov, trundled almost apologetically on to the loose ball and flicked it over the sprawled Viacheslav Malafeev to rekindle hope.

That offered impetus which might have been maintained had Vryzas planted a free header below rather than over the bar.

But, with news having filtered through of Nuno Gomes's goal in Lisbon to prompt as many quizzical as panicked looks in the stands, it was the Russians who were threatening.

Dmitri Sychev forced Nikopolidis to tip a swerving drive aside, the forward's eagerness to run at dawdling defenders further threatening the Greeks' pursuit of parity, though his failure to convert Vladislav Radimov's cross defied belief. That would have been an inappropriate send-off to Russia's traumatic campaign; the UEFA fine for another quintet of bookings fitted the bill slightly better.

Captain Theodoros Zagorakis found it hard to take in what his side had just achieved but he felt that despite the defeat, last night's qualification for the quarter-finals had put his team firmly on the football map.

"It took us some seconds to understand what happened tonight. We fulfilled all our promises. We made Greece not just the talk of Europe, but also of the world," Zagorakis said with great pride, remembering that his side had to endure some stiff criticisms before the tournament began.

"Obviously we made the worst possible start. I don't understand what happened to us at the beginning of the game but it's the result which counts," he said.

Goalkeeper Nikopolidis said: "This has been one of the biggest nights ever for Greek football. We wanted to do better tonight. We lost but we are going on and that is what counts.

"We don't know who we are going to play next yet, but so far so good. We are the surprise of the tournament no matter what happens next."

Rehhagel is now looking forward to the business end of the competition: "Today there will only be joy, no criticism," he said. "We have already won everything. Every opponent from now on is a comfortable one. We have nothing more to lose."