After their surprise title in Portugal, Greece disappeared from the radar, until tumbling to 52nd place in the FIFA rankings.
Nineteen years later, Greece will attempt to topple a mountain. The Greek selection stands on the road to the Blues, Monday June 19, for a first France-Greece in official competition since the quarter-final of Euro 2004. On June 26 of that year, the selection of Jacques Santini s was tilted to everyone’s surprise on a header from Angelos Charisteas (1-0). A very bad memory in the history of the France team, but above all a memorable feat for Greece.
The epic did not stop there for Otto Rehhagel’s team, who had conquered Europe, when no one would have bet a penny on it, beating Portugal in the final (1-0). Almost twenty years later, the situation is clear: the selection has failed to bring to fruition the biggest achievement in its history. She is now stuck in a pale 52nd place in the FIFA rankings.
This title at the Euro surprised the Greeks themselves. “It did not produce anything because the country was not ready to manage a title like that. He did not have the necessary structure to make it a trigger for success”, argues Martial Debeaux, a journalist specializing in Greek football. Between 2004 and 2023, there was certainly a quarter-final at Euro 2012 and a round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup. But apart from these small breakthroughs, we will note above all the total absence of Greece from all major competitions since the World Cup in Brazil. The fault in part to “clubs that never evolved into modern football at the turn of the 2010s”after Martial Debeaux.
A revival with Gustavo Poyet
“Greek football is based on an economic model that is no longer viable. He does not bet on trading. Players at the end of their career have high salaries. Young players don’t have a lot of playing time. All of this means that it’s the selection that suffers“, analyzes the Hellenic football specialist. The latter also points to the “bad atmosphere that reigns around Greek football: the violence of the fans, the pressure on the players and the mistrust of the clubs towards the FederationFIFA and UEFA have notably had to come to the aid of the authorities in recent years to solve endemic problems of corruption.
At the end of the chain, the Greek selection failed to progress. From an outsider in major competitions, Greece has become an inoffensive nation. In the first two editions of the League of Nations, it finished behind Hungary, Finland or Slovenia in the third division of the competition. But a new dynamic has been triggered since the arrival in February 2022 of coach Gustavo Poyet.
The Uruguayan, former teammate of Didier Deschamps at Chelsea (2000-2001), is known to French football observers for having played in Grenoble (1988-1989) and coached Bordeaux (2018). With him, Greece won their group in the last edition of the League of Nations, ahead of Kosovo, Northern Ireland and Cyprus. “What has changed with Poyet is that Greece are able to beat the opponents within their reach, which was not the case before.”notes Martial Debeaux.
Deschamps suspicious
Facing France will be another pair of sleeves. “We will have to play at an exceptional level to hope to take a point”, conceded Gustavo Poyet at a press conference on Sunday, in almost perfect French. The manager sees only one scenario allowing his team to create the exploit: “We have to be at the top and France to be below. In this case, we can do it but otherwise, it will be difficult.”
Facing her, the France team should find a compact block and aggressive players, in the purest style of the Uruguayan coach. Qualities that are reminiscent of those of the selection that eliminated the Blues in 2004. “We will have a very good opponent in front of us“, was wary Didier Deschamps, two days after seeing his players lack rhythm against Gibraltar and giving the impression of coming to the end of the race at the end of a grueling season.
The draws obtained in 2021 in Spain (1-1) and Belgium (1-1) showed that Greece were capable of playing itchy hairs. Led by their captain Anastasios Bakasetas, they won against Ireland on Friday (2-1). She is currently the closest opponent of the Blues in Group B with six points taken from a possible six and will perhaps try to “find in this match the spark that will rekindle the enthusiasm of the Greek public for the selection“, in the words of Martial Debeaux. It’s up to the Blues to nip this project in the bud to increase their lead over it and maintain their course towards Euro 2024.