The Hindu : Sport / Football : It's Portuguese daring vs Grecian tenacity

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Sunday, Jul 04, 2004

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Sport - Football

It's Portuguese daring vs Grecian tenacity

By Kevin McCarra

LISBON, JULY 3. If the worst comes to the worst this could be the final to give romance a bad name. Two of the smaller nations, with populations of about 10 million apiece, will be striving for the European Championship on Sunday, but whose heart will be touched if the teams attempt only to lie in wait for each other? There is skill, particularly within the Portuguese ranks, but it is couched in conservatism.

The referee Markus Merk may find the sides shooting him a suspicious look when he insists that one of them do something so foolhardy as take the kick-off. Of course the caricature is unkind, but there is a dis-satisfaction with Euro 2004 that can only be corrected with considerable difficulty at Estadio da Luz.

Portugal have certain footballers of sumptuous talent, but the coach Luiz Felipe Scolari is as cautious as he was when turning Brazil into World Cup winners two years ago. Risks are taken purely when they are no longer risks at all. He did rejig the line-up in the quarterfinal so that Simao, Rui Costa and Helder Postiga joined Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo on the field, but with England 1-0 in front there was nothing left to lose.

Viewers could wish Portugal well on Sunday yet still hope that they are, at some stage, in enough jeopardy to be so bold again. This tournament is not guilty of the most sullen football there has ever been, but it will never be cherished for ravishing flair either. Greece are in the final after mustering a mere six goals in five fixtures.

They and their smart coach Otto Rehhagel still deserve to be saluted because, for all their limitations, they have taken advantage of opponents whose firepower failed them. Les Bleus performed as if they had the blues before going out in the last eight, having made a vapid defence of a title they took spectacularly in Rotterdam four years ago.

You might even start to look back with fondness on the losers there. Italy, but for Alessandro del Piero's misses, would have won the Euro 2000 final and showed far more conviction than they mustered in Portugal.

There has been a competition of shocks this summer, but they have been more annoying than electrifying when leading to the departure of stars who never supplied the entertainment of which they are capable.

It is to Greece's immense credit that they have shone such a strong light on the weaknesses of others. At Estadio do Dragao they illuminated the failings of a Czech Republic side who moped once their leader Pavel Nedved got injured. There is interest, too, in the thinking Rehhagel applies to these contests.

Common sense would have suggested that the strapping Traianos Dellas, who ultimately scored the winner on Thursday, should be assigned to mark the similarly burly Jan Koller. In the event, though, it was the far smaller and more nimble Mihalis Kapsis who kept nipping in to beat the Czech centre-forward to the ball.

Rehhagel must hand out some useful tips to a side who all know how to seal up every gap. One member of the line-up in particular is good enough to be an embarrassment in the making for Chelsea. Giourkas Seitaridis is moving from Panathinaikos to Porto for some £2m to replace Paulo Ferreira, who has cost the Stamford Bridge club £13.25m.

The latter was dropped by Portugal after a hapless defeat to Greece at the start of Euro 2004, while Seitaridis's fame has climbed as a man marker equipped to shut out Thierry Henry and the competition's top scorer Milan Baros. It is beyond question that Greece are extremely adept.

They came to this tournament by topping the qualification group that included Spain and again left Iñaki Sáez's team in their wake here. The results are far too consistent to be flukes, but that does not mean that anyone other than their exuberant support will enjoy the grim pragmatism. It is unsavoury that Giorgios Karagounis, suspended from the final, has been booked in all four of his appearances.

A goal from Greece would be welcome if it made flamboyance essential for Portugal. It is odd to realise how much England contributed to Euro 2004 and how sorely they have been missed. There was nothing unjust in defeat for them by Scolari's team, but that match and their other defeat to France sit with the Czech Republic's 3-2 victory over Holland as the highlights of the competition.

Should Portugal fall 1-0 behind, a comparable verve from them would be mandatory. Its absence is exasperating because of the obvious skill in the ranks. Maniche, who could not have taken it for granted beforehand that he would even be in the starting line-up, has been one of the best midfield players and Ronaldo, with all his tricks, is a firm promise of verve.

A little more of the hosts' potential ought to be unlocked at Estadio da Luz. Maybe care was required after the defeat by Greece to ensure that Portugal did not buckle under the expectations of their compatriots, but the final will make demands of its own. It will be futile for Scolari's team to bide their time when the patience of Rehhagel's men is boundless.

The masterpiece of administration at this tournament has been the schedule enjoyed by Portugal once they had won their group. The rest periods have been ample and now it is up to them to employ all that energy in concluding a spluttering Euro 2004 with an explosive final.

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