BBC SPORT | Euro 2008 blog

It's a tragedy for Greece

Mark Clemmit
11 Jun 08, 06:23 PM

Birmingham, England

I love Greece. In a month's time, I'll be taking another trip in speedos and flip flops around the islands of the Cyclades.

Football has been on a high in the country since their victory at Euro 2004, with most main tourist resorts doing a roaring trade in Hellas replica shirts ever since.

So when the opportunity arose to go to Athens as part of my Euro 2008 jaunt, it wasn't one to be sniffed at.

The 'Athens' taverna is in the centre of Birmingham and close enough to the town hall that, pie-eyed on retsina, you might imagine its majestic stone pillars are those of the Acropolis.

The chef at Athens is exactly the sort of person we were hoping to meet on the road. He claims to have played for Panathinaikos in the late 1960s and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the team. He's also a mean cook, serving up his speciality of mince in tomato sauce with pasta covered in creamy béchamel sauce and baked in oven.

At times, Athens resembled a scene from a Greek comedy. Plumber Kostas and his brother Yiannis dropped in to watch the game against Sweden but found themselves called upon to mend the cistern in the upstairs ladies' loo before kick-off.

All guests were, however, deadly serious about their football. They sat stony-faced as the reigning champions brand of containment failed them this time around.

Even the much-vaunted local belly dancer let them down,failing to turn up.

Mark Clemmit is a 5 Live reporter. Please check our FAQs if you have any questions.

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Comments

1. At 8:52pm on 11 Jun 2008, quickquip wrote:
Greece was a "tragedy" for the Euros. Hopefully we can put paid to their insufferable brand of stutifying defense. Everyone sat "stony faced" watching that deadly bore of a match yesterday between the timid Greeks and sluggish Swedes. Anymore like that and we can all go to bed alot earlier at night. No wonder the belly dancer didn't bother to show up. Hup Holland!

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2. At 07:58am on 12 Jun 2008, Bagshot Again wrote:
The Greek team capitulated under the weight of being defending champions.

They knew that everyone was waiting them to foul up. That included most of the Greeks.

They were affraid to lose. They couldn't handle it.

Remember that they are not there by virtue of being champions. They are there after qualifying top in a group that included ex champions Denmark, Norway and wolrd cup semi finalists Turkey.

Any team can have a stinker. Surely England can vouch for that.

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3. At 10:24am on 12 Jun 2008, GreekPS wrote:
As a Greek I am bitterly disappointed at the way the team approached the first game against Sweden. There are explanations for this poor performance but I am expecting a different Greece against Russia. Let's wait and see what happens at the end of the group stages. The we can take stock. I am still hopeful and believe that the Greek team has much more skill and potential than it has shown in the first game. Still believe in them. Need to change the defensive mentality and play quick counter-attacking football as they did in Contstantinople against Turkey in the qualifying stages.

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4. At 7:45pm on 12 Jun 2008, baristarim wrote:
"...as they did in Contstantinople against Turkey in the qualifying stages..." GreekPS

Oh, are you talking about the famous Byzantine Empire v. Ottoman Empire match in the 1386 Empires Cup semi-finals? What a match. Unfortunate that the game had to be postponed after angry war-lords starting clubbing each other in the head half-way through the first-half...

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5. At 9:11pm on 12 Jun 2008, waterloo42 wrote:
Cant help but think that Greece will win enough points to make the last 8, they must realize they are good enough - well we can only hope :)

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6. At 1:18pm on 14 Jun 2008, greekwoman wrote:
Many Greeks do not care if Greece win or lose today. I mean we do care, but it is also very important to us that they are there, taking part in Euro 2008. And we are proud they have achieved that, although they do not have the famous stars and the infinite money available to other national teams. I am proud that our team qualified for this and that I, a Greek living and working abroad at the moment, can enjoy watching them on TV!

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