Greece vs. Russia 1-0 / Athens 17.11.1993
In November 1993, Greece was on the verge of qualifying for its first ever World Cup Finals. All they needed was one goal but their opponent was the toughest team in the group: Russia. A capacity crowd of 60,000 anxious fans packed Athens’s Olympic Stadium hoping to see their team secure a ticket to the USA. That moment came when a young Machlas – later a striker for Ajax and winner of the 1998 “European Golden Boot” – scored in the 68th minute, at which point the stadium was set on fire. As in literally, with flames. Unfortunately that was the high point of the campaign. At the finals Greece’s record was woeful as they found themselves on the receiving end of three successive drubbings. Argentina, Nigeria and Bulgaria scored a total of 10 goals against the Greeks who didn’t manage to score one.
Hungary vs. Greece 3-0 / Budapest, 14.10.1987
Before that legendary game against the Russians in ‘93, Greece’s had only known failure in its attempts to reach the World Cup’s final stage. Indeed the national team’s experience of major tournaments was limited to a single UEFA European Cup Finals in 1980. Time and again the team would come close to qualifying only to undo all of their efforts in the final, decisive game. One particularly hope-crushing moment for the Greeks came in October of 1987 during qualifiers for Euro ‘88. In the previous match the team had managed to contain a powerful Dutch side featuring Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard to a 1-1 draw and hopes were high. All Greece needed to do was repeat the feat against Hungary to stay in contention. But the Hungarians, led by superstar Lajos Detari, punished the Greeks’ optimism with three goals.
Portugal vs. Greece 1-2 / Porto, 4.7.2004
EURO 2004: Portugal – Greece 1-2 (Goals) 12-6-2004 από BigDaddyAEL1964
The opening match of the Euro ‘04 tournament was arguably the night that Greek football changed for ever when the team set its first true course for greatness. They entered the match as serious underdogs but Georgios Karagounis’s goal in the 7th minute against hosts Portugal seemed to fill the Greeks with a confidence that carried them all the way to the final – even though they had to go through Zinedan’s France and Nedved’s Czech Republic to get there. In Lisbon they silenced any remaining critics by repeating their 1-0 victory against Portugal and its dual superstars of Ronaldo and Figo, and became European champions in one of the international football’s biggest ever upsets.
Ukraine vs. Greece 0-1 / Donetsk, 18.11.2009
Following a 0-0 draw in Athens Greece went to Kiev to play the second leg of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine. After the triumph of Euro ‘04, the Greek team had seemingly lost its magic. They failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and as returning champions failed to gain a single point at the 2008 European Cup finals in Austria and Switzerland. But Otto Rehhagel, the legendary coach who led Greece to its European glory still hoped to lead the team to a World Cup before he retired. However, Greece was once again the underdog against the mighty Ukraine. That changed in the 31st minute when Dimitris Salpigidis scored putting Greece up. For 70 nerve-wracking minutes Greece managed to hold on to their slim lead and so qualified to their second ever World Cup. At the tournament Salpigidis went on to score the country’s first ever goal at a World Cup finals against Nigeria in a match that ended 2-1 for Greece.
Greece vs. Romania / Athens, 13.11.2013
Four years later, Greece is once again on the cusp of qualifying for the World Cup. Today, however, its status is different. Romania is a talented team with high expectations, but Greece, led by 2004 Euro heroes Karagounis and Katsouranis, is more experienced and has developed a tough character that keeps it in the elite of European and international football. In the first leg of the qualifiers, Greece scored three times against the Romanians. One goal came from the experienced Salpigidis and two from rising star Kostas Mitroglou. While the Romanians were able to respond to the first goal with one of their own, they couldn’t contain the Greeks from scoring again and taking the match. Greece goes to Bucharest tonight with a 3-1 advantage, needing only to avoid a major disaster in order to make it to their third World Cup finals in Rio, Brazil. A nation waits with bated breath…