© EuroFootball.com
In the second semifinal of the European Football Championship, the Greek team pulled off another surprise and defeated the Czech national team after extra time following a dramatic battle. In the final, the Greeks will play against the tournament host Portugal, whom they had already sensationally defeated in the group stage.
So symbolically, the same teams will meet in the first and last matches of Euro-2004. The final will be played on Sunday at the Luz Stadium in Lisbon, starting at 21:45 Lithuanian time.
Statistics
Greece - Czech Republic 1 - 0
(Main time 0 - 0)
105+1'
Shots: 9 and 16
On target shots: 5 (56%) and 5 (31%)
Passes: 494 and 546
Accurate passes: 344 (70%) and 400 (73%)
Corners: 4 and 8
Offsides: 4 and 2
Yellow cards: 3 and 3
Ball possession: 48% and 52%
Tackles won: 43 and 30
The match was started more actively by the Czechs, and in the third minute, they were close to scoring when Rosický's shot from 20 meters hit the crossbar. Shortly after, Jankulovski tried again, but Nikopolidis blocked the ball.
The game slowly evened out, and the Greeks began to find more space, although they failed to create anything dangerous, except for one moment when the Czech goalkeeper unexpectedly deflected the ball.
In the 33rd minute, Jankulovski received the ball in the penalty area, but Greek goalkeeper Nikopolidis once again saved the goal. During this episode, Czech captain Pavel Nedvěd suffered an injury. At first, it appeared that he could continue the match, but in the 40th minute, Vladimir Šmicer came onto the field instead of him.
At the beginning of the second half, the Czechs tried to press their opponents again, but they were not very successful. There was a lot of tough play in the midfield, and the match referee Pierluigi Collina had to show a couple of yellow cards.
In the 59th minute, a corner kick was awarded near the Greek goal, the goalkeeper punched the ball, but the Czech forwards interfered with each other at the far post and failed to head it successfully. The same thing happened five minutes later on the other side of the field - this time Fyssas missed the shot, and three minutes later, Čech saved Vryzas' shot.
With 10 minutes left until the end of the second half, the Czechs played precise passes in the midfield. Rosický broke through towards the penalty area, played a "wall pass" with Koller, received the ball back, but the tall striker missed his shot next to the post. In the 83rd minute, Baroš received the ball near the penalty area, dribbled past Greek defenders, but shot wide from thirteen meters.
In the 87th minute, Karagounis received a yellow card, which was his second yellow in the knockout stage - the defender will not be able to help his team in the final. The main time ended without goals, so the teams had to play extra time.
Both teams started extra time cautiously, and the players felt the fatigue. In the fourth minute, Charisteas passed to Giannakopoulos, who headed the ball, and the Czech goalkeeper had to deflect it. In the thirteenth minute, after a Tsartas header into the box following a substitution, Dellas shot with his head, but Čech saved his team again. As the end of the extra time approached, the Greeks earned a corner kick, Tsartas lifted the ball to the near post, where defender Dellas directed the ball into the goal.
Soon, Collina's whistle signaled the end of the match. Greece, who had never won a match in the final stages of tournaments, did something that probably no one expected - they reached the final of the European Championship and will now fight for the title of the continent's champions.
