Working together to allow no room to roam

Jon Brodkin believes the Greek strategy of depriving their opposition of space was a decisive factor.

It would be stretching the point to suggest last night's result would have been immaterial to Greece supporters but they were certainly going to party whatever the outcome. For them this was history and an outpouring of national pride. Victory would complete the fairytale. Some of their chants and cheers were probably heard in Athens, not least when they greeted the goal that Angelos Charisteas scored.

That goal, headed from a corner just before the hour, was Greece in a nutshell. It stemmed from a quick break when Portugal had looked threatening, and that was a policy that presaged such reward all night. Squeeze the life out of Portugal with good organisation and almost everyone behind the ball and wait for moments to pounce.

Charisteas, too, sums up Greece's achievements. Here is a player who had rarely started for Werder Bremen last season but is a key man for the national side. If Greece's individual parts are not widely known, they make a fine collective unit.

There was never a moment here when embarrassment looked possible, though even that might not have stemmed the enjoyment of the fans in blue and white.

In the build-up many Greek fans were singing from the upper deck of city tour buses. Others were soaking in the atmosphere of a day they could never have envisaged.

Their team arrived at this tournament having never won a game at a major finals and even the players called it a "dream" to have reached this juncture. No wonder a reported 40 charter flights were laid on to take fans to Portugal.

The fans certainly made themselves heard in a stadium in which they were comfortably outnumbered. The recent arrivals must have regaled the hard-core who have been in Portugal from the start of the tournament with tales of how Greece has reacted to the team's success.

Greece had every reason to believe they could win. After all, they beat Portugal in the tournament's opening match, had since defeated France and the Czech Republic. Their starting XI showed only one change from the first game, Konstantinos Katsouranis in for the suspended Giorgios Karagounis.

Coach Otto Rehhagel also kept with the man-marking which served him well in the semi-final. Here Mihalis Kapsis had to keep an eye on Pauleta, while Katsouranis was given the job of watching the Portugal playmaker Deco. The idea was to stunt Portugal's creativity and deny them an outlet in central attack.

Broadly it worked. Portugal's brightest moments tended to come down the flanks, particularly when Miguel ventured forward from full-back before getting injured, though Greece were hardly open there.

The wide players, Stelios Giannakopoulos and Charisteas, come back to form a five-man midfield when defending and central colleagues were happy to take their high-energy game to the flanks.

The idea was to give opponents no room and the endless hustling seemed to affect Luis Figo. Cristiano Ronaldo was Portugal's most dangerous player but he could make no decisive contribution in the first half as Greece's stifling did its job.

Though it is easy to think of Greece as a team whose defensive strength lies in numbers, there is individual quality too. That was highlighted by the tackle Traianos Dellas produced to dispossess Ronaldo in the area. Giourkas Seitaridis also began in typically strong fashion at right-back.

It was no surprise that Greece spent most of the first half on the back foot but there were glimpses of their attacking prowess. They were not overawed by playing a final in their opponents' backyard, and there were lively breaks and passages of good passing to go with less successful long balls.

Giannakopoulos was involved in some of the neat moves and Zisas Vryzas, the Fiorentina striker, was a frequent source of danger, not just through the middle but by drifting wide. Charisteas, too, had his moments, including drawing a save from Ricardo. If Greece found it hard to create clear opportunities, there was always a sense they could suddenly strike.

That was underlined when, after a rare second-half counter-attack, Charisteas headed in a corner by Angelos Basinas.

Shortly before, Basinas had sprinted to tackle Maniche as the Portugal player prepared to shoot. Those two moments in quick succession summed up what Greece are about. No wonder the fans were going wild.

Guardian Service