GOAL hero Angelos Charisteas declared Greece’s Euro 2004 quarter-final victory over fallen champions France as "the greatest moment" in his country’s football history.
The underdogs prevailed 1-0 against the French, winning thanks to a superb header from Charisteas in the second half. They go on to play the winners of the match between Denmark and the Czech Republic.
"We have produced a great performance agains
t a very good team and I believe we have proved, notably to those who have come from Greece to support us, that it’s thanks to our quality that we are here, rather than luck," Charisteas said.
Greece have made great strides under Otto Rehhagel,
who declared: "This story will go around the world."
The 65-year-old German steered Greece, who had never won a match at a major championship before this tournament, into the finals for the first time in 24 years.
France coach Jacques Santini admitted his side were simply not good enough. "We lacked clear ideas on how to come back after the great goal Greece scored," said Santini, who will shortly depart for Tottenham.
"Since the tournament started, we have been confronted with a recurring problem - dealing with very solid defences. We failed to find the solutions and today we have not been good enough to avoid defeat."
