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Euro 2008

Euro 2008 betting: How did Greece manage this and can they do it again?

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"Mystical" Mike Norman looks to the past rather than the future this time to recall Greece's Euro 2004 victory but can't resist having a glance into his crystal ball to see how far Greece can go this time round

At Euro 96 Germany had Klinsmann, Ziege and Bierhoff, in 2000 the French were blessed with players such as Barthez, Desailly, Vieira, Zidane and Henry, and at Euro 04 the Greeks triumphed with a team that contained such household names as.......... Ok, so they didn't have any household names, but they still won didn't they?

So just how did Greece win one of the most prestigious national football tournaments in the world with a team whose best known players to us were Nikos Dabizas and Stelios Giannakopoulos? Not one superstar, not one player who went on to play for a major European club, and even their star striker (Angelos Charisteas) can now be seen plying his trade at FC Nuremberg!

How did they do it? Well if I knew the exact answer I'd now be the manager of England, readying my team of league one players for the upcoming European Championships in Austria/Switzerland! But the most likely answer lies in their German manager Otto Rehhagel and the team spirit the he instilled into the minds of the Greek players.

Rehhagel is a master at getting his players to adapt to a style that he thinks best suits them. As manager of Werder Bremen he is remembered for fast attacking football with plenty of flair, but as the manager of Greece he knew he didn't have the players capable of playing an attacking style. Rehhagel recognised that he had a squad of hard-working individuals who were strong mentally, so he adapted a style of football that wasn't pretty to watch, but it made the Greeks very difficult to break down.

Greece had never previously won a match at a major tournament and were considered as huge outsiders to win Euro 04, yet they stunned host nation Portugal in their opening fixture before qualifying from the group as runners-up. They then went on to beat France, Czech Republic and Portugal again in the final by adopting a defensive approach and using energetic midfielders to numb their opponent's attacks. Greece didn't concede a single goal in the knock-out stages, prompting the media to label Otto Rehhagel as a manager that encouraged boring football, but the truth was that Rehhagel, in his own words, adapted the tactics to the characteristics of his available payers.

Greece's success will always be one of the greatest upsets in football, but it also proves that team spirit, togetherness and an excellent work ethic can triumph over individuals and flair on any given day.

To repeat their triumph, Greece are currently available at [32.0] to win Euro 08. While another success is unlikely, from a form perspective Greece certainly aren't without a chance. After a few years of poor results they are now right back in form, and following a recent victory over Portugal in a friendly, they climbed to a record high of 8th in the FIFA world ranking list. They qualified for Euro 08 by topping their group and at the same time amassing more points than any other nation from all the qualifying groups. And perhaps the best news is that Otto Rehhagel is still in charge.

In all honesty, Spain, at [1.99], should top 'Group D' when the tournament kicks-off next month, but Greece shouldn't be written off. They can be backed at [5.7] to top the group, just ahead of Sweden and Russia who are at [5.8] and [6.4] respectively. If Spain do win the group then the fight for the runners-up spot will be a keenly contested one with Greece at [2.26] to qualify - Sweden are [2.24] with Russia at [2.6].

The current Greek squad has a lot of players still remaining from their successful side of four years ago, most notably Stelios and Charisteas, but Theodoros Zagorakis (player of the tournament in 2004) is now retired and will be a big loss from their hard working midfield. I'm sure he will be watching with excitement as Greece set out to defend their trophy when they play Sweden on June 10th - Sweden are slight favourites at [2.68], with Greece being available at [2.82] and the draw at [3.2].