It wasn’t long before (actually it’s been 10 years already) when Greece won the European Championship, against all odds. That time, Adidas found its perfect ambassador for the quote “Nothing is Impossible”! It was EURO 2004, which had an outsider and that was Greece (Hellas). But the Greeks, with the German coach/manager, won almost every team they were playing against and after winning for the second time the hosting country, Portugal, they celebrated the European Championship.
Since then, the Greek National team participated in all major events except the World Cup of 2006. Its participation was not always successful. At the European championship, they always succeeded to either take the ticket for the finals of the World Cup or advance to the knock out phase of the Euro.
Nevertheless, Greece was never appreciated, for what they have accomplished. They were always considered as the team playing the least attractive football and they were accused for playing destructive game. Is this true? The easy answer is no… since you have to win to move forward it means that you have to attack to score. Despite that, there is a difference in playing defensively from playing a destructive game. Of course there were times where Greece actually played a destructive game because the end justifies the means, but that was not always the case.
Coming to the present Greece participates in the Brazil World Cup. They were drawn in a group with Colombia, Ivory Coast and Japan. It was a group that did not have a “big” team but it was a difficult group. Again Greece was the outsider! There were people who were betting that Greece would not even get a point. By the first game, against Colombia and the defeat by three goals to nil, they were talking about a disaster for Greece.
At the next game, Greece played against Japan. From the mid of the first half they were playing with ten players due to a red card…so they changed their game plan to a full defensive game but not destructive since they were trying to win the game. The game was completed with a draw, leaving Colombia (who at the same time won the game against Ivory Coast) with six points and the only team from the group moving to the next round, while the other three teams will compete for the second ticket to the next round at the final game.
Ivory Coast needed at least a draw against Greece, who on the other hand needed to win and at the same time Japan to lose from Colombia. Both games were on at the same time. The final result was Colombia winning Japan and Greece winning Ivory Coast. According to the Ivory Coast manager, Greece was the best team and won fairly.
It may be the best game that the Greek National team ever played. Their defensive structure was perfect, not allowing the talented players of Ivory Coast to create any dangerous situations, while offensively it was one of the best games. We should not forget that by the 25th minute of the game they had to proceed with two unplanned substitutes due to injuries.
Adidas’ quote, this year is “all in or nothing”. It makes you wonder, is Adidas creating the quotes based on Greece? Most probably not! Is Greece trying to proof Adidas correct? Most probably not! Then what is it?
Adidas selects quotes that have to do with the positive site of life. Greece as a national team and as a country is a fighter. The above makes Adidas to choose very nice inspiring quotes and Greece proving them true! Because nothing is impossible, against all odds, Greece moves to the knock out phase of the World Cup. At the same time when you give the final fight it is better to give your “all in”, otherwise do not bother getting into the fight to begin with.
Greece is fighting against a huge economic crisis which has driven the Greeks to poverty, both as a country and as individuals. The crisis started from 2009 and the Greeks were protesting against the European Union and the IMF for the strict measures they were imposed. They never gave up, although no one believed they could make it. By the beginning of 2014 they were congratulated, for the first time, by the international lenders, for their steady recovery. This was followed by the return of Greece to the international markets.
Greek National football team is not different…is the fighting culture of the Greek people concentrated in those few football players. What will happen at the knock out phase does not really matters. The Greeks are in the 16 best teams in the world, at this phase everything is possible.
So ALL IN or nothing because NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE…Greece leads the way!!!
realisnottruth 