Hot on the heels of the current UEFA EURO 2020 tournament, MAXIM’s token Greek mate (and superstar community footballer for the Balmain & District Football Club in NSW), dissects the latest doco about how Greece – a country who had never previously won a single match in a major soccer competition – became the unlikeliest of European Champions in 2004…
BY CON MATHIOUDAKIS
Apart from managing the Greek national football team in the 2004 EURO tournament, I didn’t know anything about Otto Rehhagel. KING OTTO illustrates what a super-tough defender he was as a player and successful manager in Germany – he loves the game, he’s very disciplined, structured and, well, very German. The film also shows that he’s a very likeable person.
Before 2004, the history of the Greek national team was quite bad – no structure, no strategy, no successes and no idea of how to go about achieving any of the former. They were basically unknown in the football world. In fact, after getting thrashed and humiliated in the 1994 World Cup, the perception was that Greece, as a nation, was ashamed of their national team.
Enter the German master, Otto Rehhagel, hired to manage this Greek team. From the get-go there’s language and culture problems – after all, Germans and Greeks are very different. Germans are very disciplined, structured, cautious. Greeks are carefree, relaxed, passionate, spiritual. However, both possess strong will when put to task. And so begins their 2004 EURO campaign.
In the first of two World Cup qualifiers in 2001 Greece is humiliated 5-1 at the hands of Finland, leaving them thinking they’d made a mistake, but the President of Greek football says they’re sticking with Rehhagel. Along comes a solution in the form of Ioannis Topalidis, a German born Greek football scout who joins the squad as assistant coach/interpreter. This is a key turning point because much of the language and cultural barriers are broken down dramatically and the Greeks start becoming a team.
Meanwhile, the rest of Greece continues to be disinterested in their national squad and show no support. However, in the second World Cup qualifying match versus England at Wembley, the Greeks draw 2-2 in front of a packed Pommy crowd. This is simply unheard of. A slap in the face for the Brits! The Greek footballers start believing and their nation start taking notice.
EURO 2004 begins and the Piratiko (Greek for The Pirate Ship), as they go by one of their many nicknames, pretty much draws the Group of Death – Portugal (the host country), Spain, Russia and Greece. As if unfazed, the Greeks win their opening game against the hosts. This is huge. One cannot fathom what this means in a football sense for all parties involved and also a human sense in the form of conquest.
As they start stringing victories together, the media turn on them saying they’re playing ugly football, ruining the game and “The only underdogs in history everyone wants to see get beaten”. What crap! Greece was coming up against nations that are footballing giants – Spain, France, Portugal. What would one have them do? They had to use tactics to get results otherwise what’s the point? Would you have asked Ho Chi Minh to mount a frontal assault against the might of the US military? It’s ridiculous!
What follows is that Greece qualifies out of their Death Group, then beat defending champions France (consisting of superstars Zidane, Henry and Pires), the Czech Republic and then defeating Portugal 1-0 in the final, making Cristiano Ronaldo cry. It’s a completely unbelievable feat. You cannot make this up. Greece goes crazy and Greeks from all parts of the world go crazy. I watched it live at Balmain Leagues Club that morning and it made me extremely proud.
As an Australian with Greek heritage, KING OTTO stirs up a heap of emotion in me. It’s a movie that shows how people from vastly differing cultures can create something quite wonderful. It’s a fairy tale for modern times – German culture, Greek culture, the human side of it and the beauty of it all. And, being a footballer, I can relate all too well – it’s very close and special to me. Otto and the Greeks did it together. They did it.
KING OTTO reminds us that no matter what our background, no matter how different our cultures, there are qualities that unite us and make us appreciate that we’re all human. A brilliant documentary that should not be missed, especially for fans of the beautiful game around the world.
