Greek press hails 'miracle' qualification for quarter-finals

Jun 21, 2004 - Thousands of Greeks celebrate at the Omonia Centre in downtown Athens. The Greek press erupted with joy after the national team's unprecedented qualification for the quarter-finals of the European football championship.

Thousands of Greeks celebrate at the Omonia Centre in downtown Athens. The Greek press erupted with joy after the national team's unprecedented qualification for the quarter-finals of the European football championship.

The Greek press erupted with joy after the national team's unprecedented qualification for the quarter-finals of the European football championship.

"National holiday," read Monday's front page headline of the Apoyevmatini daily. "June 20 will be engraved in our hearts as the proudest day in Greek football. Something like a national anniversary," the conservative daily wrote.

"A Greek miracle," daily Ethnos said on its front page. "Tear down the walls for the heroes to pass," the daily added.

Joy was mixed with relief after Greece's narrow 2-1 defeat to Russia in the Algarve town of Faro, which proved just enough for the Greek team to scrape through to the next round thanks to Portugal's 1-0 win over Spain.

"Whew, we're through," said daily Eleftherotypia in its main title. "Defeat had the taste of champagne... it was the sweetest defeat in the national team's history," the newspaper added.

Celebration was mixed with criticism for the Greek side's performance in the game against Russia.

The Greeks' showing was unanimously described as their worst in the championship after the suprise 2-1 victory against hosts Portugal on Saturday and the 1-1 draw against disqualified favorites Spain on Wednesday.

"We better forget yesterday's performance as soon as possible," sports daily Filathlos wrote.

"Visibly stressed, our players nearly demolished everything they had built with so much effort against Spain and Portugal."

Source: WorldSoccerNews.com

Videos	New Posters	CALENDARS	Books	Magazines	Games