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SALZBURG, AUSTRIA — The holders couldn't hold it together, in the end.
Greece, the champion of Europe since its shocking victory at the final of Euro 2004, stuck to the formula that has won it so many games by a single goal here and there. The winning formula of defensive play and occasional, fast counterattack stood the Greeks in good stead for an hour.
But in Sweden, the Greeks finally met a team that didn't underestimate them and that understood their tactics. For the entire first half last night, Greece played its distinctive, unglamorous game of keep possession, slow the pace and wait. Some call it ugly soccer, but it had worked before for a team without outstanding talent.
Then, 22 minutes into the second half, Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic produced a bit of magic play and a stunning 25-yard strike to give Sweden the advantage.
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Ibrahimovic, the Inter Milan forward, hadn't scored for his country in three years, and never was a goal so golden. After an exquisitely played give-and-go with veteran Henrik Larsson, his strike put the Greeks behind and forced them to do what they clearly cannot – play passionate, attacking soccer and score. They never even looked capable.
Six minutes later, sensing panic, Sweden poured toward the Greek goal, and in a mad scramble, Petter Hansson hustled the ball into the net for a second goal. That ended Greece's resistance, and it lost 2-0.
This was a game of chess from the start. Greece made clear its intention by doggedly maintaining possession and often refusing to move forward. It was dour, boring soccer, but the Greeks took no notice of the contempt from the massive crowd of Swedish supporters – 10,000 were here – as the defenders simply passed to each other, over and over. This tactic is what Greece head coach Otto Rehhagel had instilled in his team years ago, and they stuck to it.
Later, at the postgame news conference, Rehhagel denied that he ever approved of the endless, internal passing game without forward movement, but he defended his overall defensive tactics.
“We have to defend strongly before we can score,” he said. “We don't have the attacking options of teams like Germany. If we had applied different tactics, we might have been 5-0 down at halftime.”
Sweden's head coach, Lars Lagerback, explained that he'd fully expected Greece to play with five defenders and attempt to stifle the game. He called Ibrahimovic's goal “world-class” and said, “It was beautiful and wonderful to see.”
Group D in this tournament is now coming into sharp focus. Spain is in the pole position to qualify for the next round, having demolished Russia. Greece will face a Russian team eager to wipe out the humiliation, while Sweden will face Spain with considerable confidence. The likelihood of Greece retaining the European trophy it won in Lisbon four years ago is remote.
Only Angelos Charisteas, who is a Greek hero for scoring the goal that beat Portugal in the previous final, ever seemed interested in seeing this game transcend a tedious 0-0 draw. He came close to beating Swedish goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson with a shot after a darting run six minutes into the game.
It was a rare attacking foray and would be repeated only after a long interval.
Once Greece fell two goals behind, desperation took hold, but the team failed to show the sort of vigour that Austria – a similar team in tactics, approach and talent – showed against Croatia in Vienna last Sunday.
There was no attacking style and the team had no chance of inventing one on the spot. Only a desperate shot from Vassilis Torosidis, three minutes from the end, looked remotely like a true scoring opportunity.
It didn't succeed, and neither will Greece's long campaign to reduce soccer to a crawl. Neutrals watching this tournament will be relieved.
