marcodavalos Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 Euro-Greece burning with football fever By Ellie Tzortzi ATHENS, July 2 (Reuters) - Greece is burning with soccer fever before Sunday's Euro 2004 final, rediscovering its national pride just weeks before the start of the Athens Olympics. Millions of Greeks took to the streets on Thursday night to celebrate the last-minute win over the Czech Republic that sent their team into the final against hosts PortugalMany turned up late for work on Friday, bleary-eyed and hoarse from shouting but still with football the number one topic of conversation. Even traders at the Athens bourse said they would rather talk football tactics than watch their screens for financial news. "Never before have we seen this kind of massive reaction, it is literally a reaction of the national collective sub conscious from a country that had hardly achieved international recognition in any field," said Marianna Pyrgioti, news manager of radio station Flash96. "Greeks don't normally get to feel as Brits or Germans do about the power and importance of their country. There is a national element to this, it's beyond football, it's the case of the small country that at this moment, feels like a big country," Pyrgioti added. The country's political press wore the national colours on front-page headlines on Friday, billing the squad as heroes and calling for the Cup to come to Athens. "And now for the Cup," wrote the biggest-selling daily Ta Nea, while normally reserved Kathimerini led with "Bravo Guys". POPULAR SLOGANS Other newspapers harked back to the Greek effort in World War Two, with headlines echoing popular slogans of the period like "Fighting Children of Greece" recalling the nation's heroic resistance against Nazi and Italian occupation. Even the liberal newspaper Eleftherotypia printed the opening lines of the national anthem on its front page. Demand for flags has topped all records and they even feature on this season's hot clothing item, a tight-fitting T-shirt with the Greek flag marked out in blue-white sequins. "There has been huge demand since the game against France, and this morning there was a queue of people outside, waiting for the shop to open so they can buy blue and white flags," said Tassos Lambropoulos, manager of a flag shop in downtown Athens. With thousands of fans wanting to get to Portugal for the final, the Greek government secured extra charter flights on the national carrier, offering them to travel agents at cost price. Those who cannot travel said the final would be priority number one on Sunday and scrambled to change their plans, some bringing football into long-standing engagements like weddings. "We had a lot of demand for giant screens and video walls so far. For Sunday we have already been asked to install screens in weddings and christenings, where they want to watch the game," said George Avgeropoulos of audiovisual rental company PPV. "We are Greeks, and as Greeks, if we cannot make it to Portugal, it is our duty to sit in front of the TV, and support the team from afar, to shout," added engineer Dimitris Michos, who has cancelled concert tickets. BRISK BUSINESS Takeaway restaurants have done brisk business throughout the tournament and are preparing for another surge in orders, while supermarkets report beer and soft drink sales shooting up as Greeks prepare for their big night in. TV stations reported record viewing numbers and plan all-out coverage on Sunday. "There was an 80 percent jump in demand from the previous game (against France), and obviously we are on red alert and calling in extra shifts for the final," said a spokeswoman for a major local pizza chain. The squad can also count on help from the Almighty, with the head of the Church of Greece offering to act as an intermediary. "We are close to the final peak," said Archbishop Christodoulos. "I congratulate the members of the team...their worthy coach, I thank God for blessing us to realise this miracle, and I pray for winning the Cup". Updated on Friday, Jul 2, 2004 9:13 am EDT No question about it ... THE BEAUTIFUL GAME. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mp3some Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 Let's go Portugal!!! So much swiming, we can't die up shore.......You beet Holland, u better make it biatches!!!!!Go Portugal!!!!!Greece has got the summer games...Let the best team win!!!!Mp3.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laliux Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 Futbol es el Rey de los Deportes. period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcarlosf Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 Let's go Portugal!!! So much swiming, we can't die up shore.......You beet Holland, u better make it biatches!!!!!Go Portugal!!!!!Greece has got the summer games...Let the best team win!!!!Mp3.- yeah...what he said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 ..Portugal isn't far from a fanatical country aswell , word is they are gonna make a 7 mile human "rope" around the main avenue that leads to the Luz stadium (final venue) just to show support as the players are getting to the stadium . Ironic coincidense of the finals : Otto rehaggel and the referree Markus Merk know eachother well as they are both from Kaiserslautern and merk is even the Rehaggel family dentist . LETS HOPE NO FAVORS ARE EXCHANGED . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 we're watching you markus ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyface Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 we're watching you markus !Portugal already taking out the umbrella before it rains? FUTBOL,PASION DE MULTITUDES........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 Portugal already taking out the umbrella before it rains? FUTBOL,PASION DE MULTITUDES........Nope , just putting some possible shady buisiness into the sunlight , thats all & i agree nothing moves a whole country like soccer , these american folks just don't know . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laliux Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 & i agree nothing moves a whole country like soccer , these american folks just don't know .They will never understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koky Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 ..stop hatin nigga ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcodavalos Posted July 3 Author Report Share Posted July 3 I wouldn't worry on the ref Mursa ...Afterall, if he is the family dentist, he will just make them suffer in pain and take their money. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koky Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 I wouldn't worry on the ref Mursa ...Afterall, if he is the family dentist, he will just make them suffer in pain and take their money. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcodavalos Posted July 3 Author Report Share Posted July 3 Euro-What would George Orwell have made of Euro 2004? By Simon Evans LISBON, July 3 (Reuters) - "At the international level," wrote George Orwell, "sport is frankly mimic warfare". Orwell was writing at the end of World War Two but anyone who attended European soccer matches in the 1980s would have had to agree that his description of "orgies of hatred" remained valid. Violent street battles and the most vulgar nationalism accompanied matches between European clubs and national teams while in sections of the media, the constant use of military metaphors underlined Orwell's observation. Even four years ago his phrase "war minus the shooting" rang true, as in the squares of Belgium, in Charleroi and Brussels, English fans fought with locals while taunting and boasting of wartime deeds. So what would Orwell have made of Euro 2004? For almost a month, Portugal has been host to football fans from 16 European nations but this time the atmosphere inside the stadiums and on the streets has lived up to the billing as a 'festival of football'. Although segregation inside stadiums officially remains, large areas of seating have contained fans of both teams right next to each other. In the past this would have been a security nightmare and the Portuguese could have expected to be heavily criticised for their ticketing policy if violence had broken out in those mixed areas. But there has been no violence in the stadiums, in fact barely a hint of aggression. Euro 2004 spectators did not need to be divided by barbed-wire fencing or lines of baton-wielding police. FLYING GLASSES In the squares and bars of Lisbon and Porto fans have mingled, drinking beer and singing songs without the bars needing to bring down their shutters for fear of flying glasses and broken windows. Certainly, the violence displayed by English who chose to spend the weeks drinking in the Algarve showed that there are still people who use the tournament as an excuse for disorder. It is too soon to start forgetting about the risk of hooliganism but something that really has changed at this event is the demographics. Once football crowds at major tournaments were dominated by males in their twenties and early thirties but there has been a much greater diversity at Euro 2004. Women are in the stadiums and involved in the street celebrations in unprecedented numbers, not just Portuguese girls waving flags after their team's victories. Feminists might not appreciate the halftime 'babe watch' from the television cameramen but who would swap it for images of thugs looking for trouble? Families have travelled to Portugal, taking in football on their holidays and they surely contributed to the different atmosphere in the grounds. EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT There have also been a noticeable number of people watching games not involving their national team, those who love football and enjoy the party without the need for emotional attachment to a particular side. Adding to the changed atmosphere, 'New Europe' was out in strength as never before with Croatians, Bulgarians, Russians, Latvians and Czechs all turning out to support their teams in impressive numbers. Back in the 1980s those fans were still living under communist systems and even when they began to be allowed to travel few had the hard currency to spend on two or three weeks in west European hotels and restaurants. That is slowly changing. The impression left is that while Europe's politicians continue to struggle with the process of greater integration the continent's football fans are putting the idea into practice. Not that the game has suddenly become a sporting version of Woodstock -- fans are still fans and national pride remains a key part of the atmosphere as the Dutch showed with their uniform blocks of orange-clad supporters. But, as Orwell himself observed, there is a huge difference between such positive patriotism and aggressive nationalism. He would surely, though, find it difficult to describe Euro 2004 as "war minus the shooting". If anything, Portugal has been an example of European union minus the politics. Updated on Saturday, Jul 3, 2004 10:19 am EDT 24 hours away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mursa Posted July 3 Report Share Posted July 3 Euro2004 has been the best european tournament to date . Hot Weather Friendly people Hot wet bitchesPortuguese hospitality bitches ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcarlosf Posted July 4 Report Share Posted July 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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