Greece are underdogs with bite

Stelios Giannakopoulos insists Greece are relishing their role as Euro 2004 underdogs and believes they can cause their third upset of the tournament when they meet the Czech Republic for a place in the final of Euro 2004 at the Estadio do Dragao on Thursday.

Otto Rehhagel’s men arrived in Portugal as one of the 16 finalists least expected to progress to the knockout stages but they have continued to confound expectations and now stand just 90 minutes from a place in the Estadio da Luz final on Sunday against the victors of Wednesday’s match between hosts Portugal and Holland.

Greece caused a sensation in the tournament’s opening match when they beat hosts Portugal at the do Dragao on June 12.

The draw against Spain and 2-1 defeat at the hands of Russia which followed were still good enough for them to join the Portuguese in the second phase at the expense of the Spanish and Russians.

But the best was yet to come for the Greeks who then pulled off the biggest shock of the tournament so far when they eliminated France thanks to a headed goal from the man who is now becoming their new talisman, Angelos Charisteas.

With the scalps of the hosts and the outgoing champions already taken, they hope to add a third in the Czechs, who are the only team to win all their games so far and whose 10 goals in the tournament so far make them joint top scorers with England.

“We have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” said Giannakopoulos, who is fit again after missing the France match in Lisbon through injury.

“We have already earned a place in the annals of Greek football history.

“This is the best moment in all our careers and that’s also what our fans are saying.”

The Greeks had brought their passports to the France game which indicated perhaps that they too were surprised by their performance against Jacques Santini’s team and they have had to change hotel because they did not expect to progress so far.

They had been based in Vila do Conde, north of Porto and training at the home of the town’s football club Rio Ave, but are now in Braga.

They are boosted for the Czech game by the return from suspension of striker Zisis Vryzas who will likely partner Charisteas up front while Giannakopoulos may also return with either Angelis Basinas or Konstantinos Katsouranis likely to make way.

Midfielder Georgios Karagounis has had a problem with his left foot and has not trained normally but he is expected to play although he and skipper Theodoros Zagorakis will have to beware a second yellow card that could potentially rule them out of the final.

The man who is expected to make way for the returning Vryzas is Demis Nikolaidis, the Atletico Madrid forward.

Charisteas will be playing on what might become familiar territory as the Werder Bremen hitman is reportedly being hunted by European club champions Porto while his team-mate Georgios Seitaridis has already agreed verbally to a move to the Dragons.

Greece had not competed in a major tournament since their disastrous performance in the 1994 World Cup but have exceeded all expectations so far - they had never previously won a game in a major final tournament.