7/05/2004
From Soccernet's Greek correspondent...
...this about sums it up nicely, I think.
"As every Greek takes a break from the all-night celebrations and attempts to recover from the over-abundance of dancing, cheering, and ouzo, there is a question that is popping up occasionally, one that I have even asked. As Zagorakis lifted the trophy and we were crowned European champions, I asked my dad, "How did we do it?" Full of pride and not wanting to take his eyes off the screen, he shrugged at first and then said, "That's why you play, to win. They believed it....
...We have become perhaps the greatest-ever Cinderella story in international football history, only the 1992 Danes could possibly challenge us in that department. From storekeepers in Alexandroupoli in Northern Greece, to my pappou (grandfather) in Pefkofito in Central Greece, to all the crazy Athenians, to the island-dwellers and hoppers, to olive growers in the Peloponessus, to the fishers in Crete and Rhodes, to Greeks all over the world in Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, California, Chicago, New York, Boston, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, London, Munich, and everywhere else, this win fills every Greek with pride and will be a victory that will never be forgotten, to be retold to all the generations to come like the Greek myths. Except that this "Greek Myth" was not made-up, it was a story about the most unlikely dream that became a beautiful reality."
"As every Greek takes a break from the all-night celebrations and attempts to recover from the over-abundance of dancing, cheering, and ouzo, there is a question that is popping up occasionally, one that I have even asked. As Zagorakis lifted the trophy and we were crowned European champions, I asked my dad, "How did we do it?" Full of pride and not wanting to take his eyes off the screen, he shrugged at first and then said, "That's why you play, to win. They believed it....
...We have become perhaps the greatest-ever Cinderella story in international football history, only the 1992 Danes could possibly challenge us in that department. From storekeepers in Alexandroupoli in Northern Greece, to my pappou (grandfather) in Pefkofito in Central Greece, to all the crazy Athenians, to the island-dwellers and hoppers, to olive growers in the Peloponessus, to the fishers in Crete and Rhodes, to Greeks all over the world in Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, California, Chicago, New York, Boston, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, London, Munich, and everywhere else, this win fills every Greek with pride and will be a victory that will never be forgotten, to be retold to all the generations to come like the Greek myths. Except that this "Greek Myth" was not made-up, it was a story about the most unlikely dream that became a beautiful reality."
