The party begins for Greece (Getty Images).
GREEK FAIRYTALE COMPLETE
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Greece completed one of the biggest upsets in
international football history by beating Portugal 1-0 in Lisbon to win Euro 2004 on Sunday night.
Striker Angelos Charisteas, the man with the golden boots, headed home the 57th-minute winner as the nation of the 'golden generation' suffered extreme pain as their team froze on the big stage.
And so a team which had entered the competition as 80-1 outsiders, without a single victory in a major tournament before, produced a truly heroic display to prevail in Lisbon.
It is not the fault of Greece's German coach Otto Rehhagel that he has conjured a notably efficient team out of relatively meagre resources.
And it is not his responsibility that mediocrity seems to rule football right now, with the power of the team greater than that of the individual.
Faced with what is, in truth, an average Greek side who were beaten in the group stages by Russia after all, the supposed might of Portugal, Spain, France and the Czech Republic were found wanting.
And none more so than Portugal in a desperately poor final display.
For this was just as much about the way in which Portugal's supposed star players - Luis Figo, Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo - all failed to deliver when it
mattered most.
Coach Luiz Felipe Scolari may have led Brazil to the World Cup two years earlier, but this time his team were a shadow of the side who had previously
overcome England and Holland.
Aftewards Rehhagel described his team's triumph as a "sensation" while Scolari chose to apologise to Portugal fans.
"It was an unusual achievement for Greek football and especially for European football. The team played great football," said Rehhagel.
"We took advantage of our chances. The opponent was technically better than us but we took advantage of our chances. We should have made it 2-0.
"The Greeks made football history today. It's a sensation."
Meanwhile, Scolari was devastated at his side's failure to finish the job.
"We ask forgiveness from all the Portuguese because we weren't able to achieve the goal that we all wanted," he said.
"It's hard. It's hard to lose this way... to play a game this way, without goals.
"They won defensively. They won because they knew how to play in that way."
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