Greece national football team

The Greece national football team is the national team of Greece and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation.

Related Topics:
Greece - Hellenic Football Federation

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Greece's first appearance in a major tournament was the 1980 European Championship, but their first win in a major tournament did not come until the first match of {{Ec2|2004}}, a 2-1 win over the hosts Portugal. The Greeks went on to win the tournament, stunning defending champions France in the quarterfinals and the heavily favored Czech Republic in the semifinals before beating Portugal a second time, 1-0, in the final. Bookmakers were giving odds of about 80-1 to 150-1 for the Greeks before the tournament.

Related Topics:
1980 European Championship - Portugal - France - Czech Republic - Bookmaker

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The Greeks' victory in Euro 2004 sent them skyrocketing up the FIFA World Rankings from 35th before the event to 14th in the July 2004 rankings. This is believed to be the largest upward move ever by a team in a single month within the top echelon of the rankings; there have been larger month-to-month moves, but by teams considerably further down the table.

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The triumph of the national team at Euro 2004 is considered one of the biggest sporting achievements in the country's history. The team has appeared on stamps and they received medals from the President of Greece, the Archbishop of Athens, as well as an ecstatic ovation from the country's population which came out to see the team and the trophy all the way from the Athens airport to the Panathinaiko Stadium where the country's entire political and religious leadership was awaiting them.

Related Topics:
President of Greece - Archbishop of Athens - Panathinaiko Stadium

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The Euro 2004 winners were selected as World Team of the Year at the 2005 Laureus World Sports Awards.

Related Topics:
2005 - Laureus World Sports Awards

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The Greeks last appeared at the world finals in 1994 but packed their bags for home after a disastrous campaign in which they scored no goals and earned no points. They failed to qualify in 1998 and 2002, missing out on a play-off spot for France 98 by a single point before finishing well adrift of Germany and England in their 2002 qualifying group.

Related Topics:
World finals in 1994 - 1998 - 2002 - France 98 - Germany - England

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