© EuroFootball.com
Approaching midnight today, the European Football Championship will finish at the "Estadio da Luz" stadium in Lisbon. At 21:45 Lithuanian time, the hosts Portugal will face the Greek team in the final, symbolically concluding the Euro 2004 with the same teams that played in the first and last matches. The match will be refereed by German Markus Merk.
These two teams already met in the opening match of the championship where Greece sensationally won 2-1. However, after the first match, Portuguese coach Luis Felipe Scolari made tactical changes and led his team to victory in all remaining matches.
This is only the third instance when the same teams meet in the first and last matches of the championship. In 1988, the Netherlands lost to the Soviet Union in the opening match but avenged in the final, and in 1996, Germany beat the Czechs in both the opening and final matches. It is worth noting that this is only the second time in European Championship history when two teams face each other in the final without playing each other before.
Portugal
For the Portuguese team, these will be crucial matches in history, as every team dreams of winning the championship at home. Portugal will also seek to extend their undefeated streak at home since 1987.
In Luis Felipe Scolari's team, there are no losses, so almost no one doubts that we will see the same Portuguese team on the field today as in the match against the Dutch.
The only question mark is Pedro Pauleta. This Portuguese striker starts every match but has not scored in these championships, so there are rumors that Scolari will replace him with the more successful Nuno Gomes. However, Scolari denies such rumors: "Pauleta doesn't score goals but he is very useful for the team, and I trust him."
These are not only the final European Championship matches but also the last matches for two Portuguese football stars - Luis Figo and Rui Costa. Both players have announced their retirement from the national team after this championship and would like to win the European Champions title for their country.
"This is a decision I made before the championship," said Costa. "Of course, it is sad to leave the team, but I am also happy, remembering all those fantastic years spent here. If we manage to win the European Championship, it would be fantastic."
Greece
Unlike his counterpart from the Portuguese team, Greece's coach, German Otto Rehhagel, cannot field the strongest lineup on the field. Giorgos Karagounis, who received his second yellow card in the match against the Czech Republic, will have to miss the final match.
Karagounis has already missed one match in these championships due to cards, and it was the only defeat for Greece against Russia, so this fact worries the team's fans.
Even more of a loss for Rehhagel could be the injury of one of the main defenders Michalis Kapsis. The player injured his knee during training, and it is still unclear whether he will be able to play today.
Kapsis himself says that this match is the complete opposite of the first Greek and Portuguese game.
"We had to play extra time against the Czechs and had a very tough quarter-final, while the Portuguese had more time to rest and recover." - worried the defender.
One of the best defenders in the championship, Traianos Dellas also sees no similarities between the opening match and today's meeting: "It is impossible to compare the first match and the final. After the first match, there were many changes in the Portuguese team, and now we will play against a completely different team."
Predicted line-ups for the teams: Greece (4-4-2): Nikopolidis; Seitaridis, Dellas, Kapsis, Fyssas; Katsouranis, Giannakopoulos, Zagorakis, Basinas; Charisteas, Vryzas. Portugal (4-5-1): Ricardo; Miguel, Carvalho, Andrade, Valente; Costinha; Figo, Deco, Maniche, Ronaldo; Pauleta.
Bookmaker
Statistic comparison Greece and Portugal Goals: 6 and 8 Goals conceded: 4 and 5 Assists: 5 and 6 Shots: 43 and 96 Shots on target: 20 (47%) and 35 (36%) Corners: 20 and 49 Offsides: 16 and 17 Passes: 1960 and 2696 Successful passes: 1327 (68%) and 2067 (77%) Fouls committed: 84 and 98 Fouls suffered: 105 and 112 Yellow cards: 14 and 12 Ball recoveries: 242 and 154 Lost balls: 130 and 269
