Gritty Greek persistence pays off

Spain 1 Greece 1

That was more than enough to give Spain plenty of reasons to beware.

Greece firmly staked a claim for further progress in Euro 2004 with a performance of calm assurance in the home of Boavista. They lacked the sheen of glamour brought to an interesting contest by the privileged millionaires of football's upper-class but were determinedly unimpressed by status and reputation.

Greece gave Spain a one goal lead and then proceeded to underline their own qualities. These were substantial, for they married good technique to a healthy work ethic and were not flattered to claim their second-half equaliser. They may yet be good enough to build on this and surprise more than their opponents from the Iberian Peninsula.

Spain would much rather have won this, the better to prepare themselves for what will inevitably be a confrontation fraught with emotion when they play Portugal in Lisbon on Sunday. But they paid a big price for assuming that one goal would be enough and, as a result, Group A is delicately poised.

Perhaps it is familiarity and, indeed, admiration for the Spaniards that helped frame the view that they were the superior team, better equipped to progress their bid for this European title to the very end.

But there were times when they looked a class team and one could not avoid the conclusion that their goal, in the 28th minute, had the effect of softening their competitive edge and inculcated a sense of security that was, for the greater part, well-founded.

Greece were always competitive, defiantly aggressive in defence and weak up front. Iker Casillas was seldom required to take an interest.

The goal illustrated the level of Spain's potential. Raul was lucky to snatch an interception between two defenders but from there Spain were brilliant.

He dummied and then heeled the ball for his friend and partner Morientes. The big centre-forward strode on to the ball, dummied as if to strike and then checked away from a defender before clipping it in right-footed from 16 yards.

Spain looked more balanced and more effective when the talented Joaquin came on in the second-half to improve considerably the quality of crosses that had left a lot to be desired earlier. Etxeberria and Vicente wasted much possession by failing to provide the service the deadly duo at centre-forward needed.

Then, when Valeron came in to further embellish Spain's work with his languid skills I feared for Greece's survival. With Baraja outstanding and Albelda almost as influential, there was a verve and a swagger to Spain's football.

Greece refused to concede and their spiky persistence paid off with a surprisingly soft goal in the 66th minute.

Zagorakis, a real dynamo in midfield, pinpointed the poor alignment of the Spanish defence with a cross-field ball from near halfway to the left touchline. Charisteas was untroubled as he pulled the ball down and Puyol was too late to prevent him from striking the ball firmly under the body of Casillas from 10 yards.

The goal was all the encouragement the relatively small Greek settlement in a population of 25,444 within the stadium needed to celebrate extravagantly. As anxiety upset the Spanish rhythm, the remaining 24 minutes were far from relaxed but a point to boost their total to four was cause for celebration that was not about to be spurned.

The enthusiastic scenes at the final whistle found their animated manager, the 65-year-old German, Otto Rehhagel in flamboyant mood, and why not?

Otto is not unknown to Irish aficionados. He was manager of Kaiserslautern in 2000 when they beat Bohemians 3-1 in the UEFA Cup.But Bohs, who had beaten Aberdeen in the qualifying round, surprised the Germans in the return. Glenn Crowe scored the goal that enabled them win 1-0 in Kaiserslautern.

"There is no such thing as an old coach" said Otto before these championships, "there is only a successful coach or an unsuccessful coach."

Here's to the successful Otto. May you enjoy more days like this.

SPAIN (4-4-2): Casillas; Puyol, Helguera, Marchena, Bravo; Etxeberria (Joaquin 46), Albelda, Baraja, Vicente; Morientes (Valeron 65), Raul (Torres 79).

GREECE (3-5-2): Nikopolidis; Katsouranis, Dellas, Kapsis; Seitaridis, Zagorakis, Karagounis (Tsiartas 52), Giannakopoulos (Nikolaidis 49), Fyssas (Venitidis 86); Charisteas, Vryzas.

Referee: Mr L. Michel (Slovakia).