As a goal by Angelos Charisteas, they have pulled off one of the greatest upsets in a major football competition. The achievement of Otto Rehhagel's team of European journeymen is hard to put into perspective, but once again the belief they have shown in themselves throughout this amazing adventure was too strong for their opponents. Portugal thus became the first host nation to lose a UEFA European Championship final and they will have to wait at least another two years to claim their first senior title. For the likes of Luís Figo and Rui Costa it was an agonising end to glittering international careers, but the Portuguese players can still look back with pride on the joy they have provided for their supporters over the past three weeks.
The Match:
GREECE - 1: Nikopolidis; Seitaridis, Kapsis, Dellas, Fyssas; Katsouranis; Zagorakis, Basinas; Giannakopolus (Veneditis 76'), Charisteas; Vyrzas (Papadopoulous 81').
PORTUGAL - 0: Ricardo; Jorge Andrade, Ricardo Carvalho; Miguel (Ferreira 43'), Nuno Valente; Maniche, Constinha (Rui Costa 60'); Ronaldo, Deco, Figo; Pauleta (Nuno Gomez 74').
Goals
0-1: Min. 57: Charisteas beats his marker and heads a corner from Basinas.
Match Facts: Basinas and Papadopoulos from Greece, and Nuno Valente from Portugal was booked a Yellow card. Estádio da Luz in Lisbon is full. both Prime Ministers and their wives watched the game in the Presidential box.
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