Euro 2004 Quarter Final 2 - France vs Greece
If the Portugal/England match were to be considered as the most exciting match in Euro, this France/Greece match would then be the most boring one. I had lost count of how many times I had nearly doze off. To be fair, I like both teams from the start. Hence I wasn't rooting for any particular team to win but was hoping for action and goals. This match had none of that. Did I mention that I love to watch attacking football? I tot France would give mi that but alas, they were dictated by the Greeks instead. There was no fast pace action, no dribblings to the penalty box area, jus aimless passes of the ball from the French which often ended up with the Greeks. I was suspecting the authencity of the French team. Did they find a dummy Zizou and Henry? Wat happened to the French players who played the magnificent comeback game against England? This had only proven a point - Les Bleus only do well against the supposedly strong teams and they are too arrogant to treat the underdogs seriously.
The Greeks, on the other hand, had a super strong defence. Unlike England - a so-called defensive team who like to have 11 players guarding their net, Greece defenders could really tackle opponents in the most legal and effective way, head dangerous balls far away and pressurize opponents to give up. Their teamwork was simply fantastic. The passes and crosses were all so accurate and complete that I suspect the players all had telepathy with one another. And unlike England, they could hold on to their lead. They did not defend without attack. They could have won 2-0 had Barthez be a split second slower in saving the ball in the 15th min. In fact, half the ball was over the line already.
In all, this was an utterly monotonous match with a surprise result. Though it wasn't that surprising cos within 5 min into the game, it could be clearly seen that the French could not dictate the game and play up to their standard. Can the Greeks cause an upset again in the semifinal? Very unlikely. Czech is too strong to be stopped. But the Greeks already prove themselves to be no pushover and luck-rider.