How did they perform in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying?
• The European champions were winners of Group C, qualifying with two games to spare thanks to Ioannis Amanatidis's strike in a 1-0 win against Turkey in Istanbul. They finished the campaign with 31 points – more than any other team in qualifying.
• Otto Rehhagel broke new ground as Greece's longest-serving coach, overseeing his 75th match in the final qualifier in Hungary.
• Greece's great start – three wins without conceding a goal – came to a shocking end as they went down 4-1 to Turkey in Athens, despite taking a fifth-minute lead through Sotirios Kyrgiakos. "Although we got an early goal, we couldn't keep up with Turkey's tempo and they got better by the minute," said Rehhagel.
• Greek heads did not drop, however, and they duly won seven out of their next eight qualifiers, the only dropped points coming in the credit-worthy 2-2 draw in Norway, where Kyrgiakos scored twice.
• Kyrgiakos played in all 1,080 minutes of Greece’s 12-game qualifying campaign.
How did they perform in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification round?
• Failed to follow up on their UEFA EURO 2004™ success after missing out on a place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany by finishing fourth in their seven-team group with six wins and three draws from their 12 qualifying matches.
• Recorded four wins and a draw from their six outings at home. Their only home defeat came against eventual group winners, Ukraine, who scored the only goal of the game via Andriy Husin eight minutes from time at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium.
How did they perform in UEFA EURO 2004™?
• Proved to be the surprise package of the UEFA EURO 2004™ finals in Portugal by ending the competition as winners.
• Qualified for the competition for the second time in their history by winning their group with six wins and two losses from their eight outings to finish ahead of Spain and Ukraine.
• Won their last six matches in the qualifying round by a total margin of eight goals scored and none conceded – the last four games all ending 1-0.
• Finished second behind Portugal in the group stage of the final tournament despite defeating the hosts 2-1 in the opening game.
• Continued to put faith in their defence as 1-0 results proved in the remainder of the competition. Greece overcame France at the quarter-final stage with Angelos Charisteas on target after 65 minutes. Then beat the Czech Republic in the semis thanks to Trianios Dellas's silver goal after 105 minutes.
• Greece then defeated Portugal in the final at the Estádio da Luz with Charisteas's 57th-minute goal separating the sides.
• Ended the competition without conceding a goal in their final 358 minutes of competitive play.
What is their best performance in the UEFA European Football Championship?
• Won UEFA EURO 2004™.
Key facts
• Greece refused to play Albania in their first match in the UEFA European Championship in March 1963 as the countries had officially been at war since 1912.
• Greece have played at two UEFA European Championship finals having featured in 1980 in Italy before triumphing at UEFA EURO 2004™.
All-time record
• Up until the end of UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying, Greece had played 100 games in the UEFA European Championship (including the forfeit 3-0 defeat to Albania in 1963) winning 48, drawing 19 and losing 33 times with 146 goals scored and 115 conceded.
• Their greatest margin of victory came in the qualifying round for the 1980 finals when Finland were on the receiving end of a 8-1 thrashing with Thomas Mavros scoring a hat-trick.
• Their greatest margin of defeat came in their opening tie in the competition in 1958 when the Greeks were on the receiving end of a 7-1 loss against France in Paris with Just Fontaine, Jean Vincent and Thadée Cisowski scoring two goals apiece for the home side.
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