Zagorakis backing Greek challenge

By Andrew McKenzie

Zagorakis led from the front in Portugal

Greece's Euro 2004 skipper Theo Zagorakis has warned teams not to write off the reigning European champions.

The Greeks begin the defence of their title against Group D opponents Sweden in Salzburg on Tuesday.

The odds are stacked against Otto Rehhagel's team repeating their amazing heroics of four years ago.

But Zagorakis told BBC Sport: "This year's team is also quite strong, with some elements that we had in 2004 and some new players that add more energy."

Zagorakis, who won 120 caps, has retired from playing and is now president of Greek side Paok FC.

But the Greece team has retained many key members from the side that upset France and the Czech Republic before beating Portugal in the 2004 final.

And they are again led by coach Rehhagel, who Zagorakis credits with instilling the team spirit that helped Greece overcome their more illustrious opponents last time out.

"In football the main factor is the coach - in success and failure," added Zagorakis.

"He changed the mentality in the team first of all and prepared us very well for each specific game. We were most of all a family, and we supported each other.

"The big advantage for Greece was always being a team. It is not easy to single out key players or stars. They are all one."

Zagorakis admitted the team struggled to handle their success, failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals.

But they were impressive in qualifying for Euro 2008 and have climbed up to eighth in the Fifa world rankings.

Zagorakis warned: "We have to keep our feet on the ground, like we did in 2004.

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Archive: Greece's historic victory

"It is wrong for somebody to believe that Greece is a main challenger for the final. But Greece can stabilize its image as a serious, hard-to-beat team.

"However, there are traditional forces in football that in every event are the favourites and I believe this for Euro 2008.

"Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy are the most likely to go far in the tournament."

Greece had not won a game in a major international tournament before 2004 and were not expected to progress from their group.

Even after knocking out holders France in the quarter-finals and Czech Republic in the semis, they were expected to come up short against the hosts in the final.

Zagorakis said: "We went there just to show to the public that Greece was a serious team in European football. We didn't have a specific objective.

"Greece had played only once in the European Championship and also once in the World Cup finals without scoring. We wanted to change this image.

"As the tournament passed we set new objectives. We were looking game-by-game. When we passed the Czech Republic and we were through to the final we started to believe we had our chances.

"In the final you always believe you can win. We knew people believed Greece was an outsider. We were again concentrated, which was the big advantage of the team.

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"We knew our level, we realised we had to have our feet on the ground, give our maximum and fight for every ball, every chance in all the games. We never underestimated an opponent, we had respect but not fear of them."

Whatever Greece's results in 2008, the players from their victory in Portugal will forever be revered back home.

"We realised our achievement," added Zagorakis. "We understood that we made our country proud and happy.

"I still cannot describe exactly the feelings. Words are not enough."

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