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The course of Euro 2004

Euro 2004 began with a sensational defeat of the hosts by Greece, which was regarded rather as an outsider. At the time, no one expected that the Greeks would cause many more similar surprises at the tournament... but more on that shortly. Anyway, both Portugal and Greece came out of the group, which was at the expense of Spain.

Also impressive at the start of the tournament were Zinedine Zidane's two goals against England in added time, which turned the result of the match in favor of the tricolors. The only debutant at Euro 2004, meanwhile, was the Latvian national team, which even managed a draw against Germany.

In Group C, on the other hand, it was known before the last round of matches that a 2–2 (or higher) draw in the Denmark-Sweden encounter would give both teams promotion regardless of the outcome of the parallel Italy-Bulgaria match. You won't guess what the score was in the Scandinavian rivalry?

Let's go back to Greece, because here sensation chased sensation. After exiting the group, the team from the Balkan Peninsula met France and... won 1–0. The semifinal against the Czech Republic and again 1–0, although after extra time (the Greeks were helped by the silver goal rule in effect at the time – this was the only time in the history of national team football when it applied). What could have been the result in the final, in which the Greeks again faced the hosts?

... 1–0 for Greece, of course! Although the Portuguese vowed after the opening match that they would never lose to Greece again. The telling image after the end of the match was Cristiano Ronaldo's tears, while the Greeks rejoiced at making the biggest sensation in the history of the European Championships.