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    With eye on Olympics, Greeks hail soccer team
    (Agencies)
    Updated: 2004-07-06 09:03

    Greece's triumphant Euro 2004 team arrived home Monday to a welcome from hundreds of thousands of their compatriots.

    Players stripped to the waist and danced Zorba the Greek style in the packed Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896, to delirious fans after a 10-kilometer long cavalcade trailed the team's bus from Athens's new airport.


    Greek fans are silhouetted as they celebrate July 5, 2004 during a welcoming ceremony for Greece's triumphant Euro 2004 soccer team in Athens' Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896. Hundreds of thousands of Greeks welcomed home the national soccer team in Athens on Monday. [Reuters]

    Greece's victory at Euro 2004 had prompted delirious celebrations by millions across Greece and around the world, which continued in the Greek capital Monday with thousands cheering waving flags and beeping horns.

    The success also provided a shot in the arm for Greek pride in hosting the August 13-29 Olympic Games, which have been beset by negative publicity over construction delays, security worries and budget overruns.


    Greek fans celebrate July 5, 2004 during a welcoming ceremony for Greece's triumphant Euro 2004 soccer team in Athens' Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896. [Reuters]

    Addressing a packed stadium, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis congratulated the team ahead of their arrival.

    "I want to stress that Greece, since last night, is on the lips of everyone in the world who follows this mass and magical sport called football," he said.

    "This great joy links us even more with sport and I am sure it will peak during the Olympic Games."

    Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis greeted the players and their German coach Otto Rehhagel on arrival at the stadium and gave them all city medals.

    "This is the best message for the Olympic Games... everything is marvelous," she said.

    Heros' welcome

    Earlier, thousands of fans had gathered at the airport to welcome the team's airplane that was squirted by fire engines in a sign of celebratory homecoming.


    Greek fans celebrate July 5, 2004 during a welcoming ceremony for Greece's triumphant Euro 2004 soccer team in Athens' Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896. [Reuters]

    The Greek national anthem rang out as the plane taxied in and the players emerged, led by captain Theodoros Zagorakis holding the trophy and German coach Otto Rehhagel, in an event televised live across the nation.

    Fans at the airport danced and chanted "Hellas ole, ole" and "The German (Rehhagel) is mad," two of their favorite chants during the tournament.


    A Greek soccer fan waves the national flag as he welcomes the Greek soccer team after their arrival at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens, July 5 2004. [Reuters]

    The homecoming celebrations saw thousands of people, of all ages and from all walks of life, line the capital's streets all the way from the airport to the city center.

    The celebrations climaxed at the old horseshoe-shaped Panathenaic stadium, where a band played celebratory tunes as lasers and fireworks filled the night sky while tens of thousands of fans rhythmically chanted "ole" and waved their arms in the air as the players lifted the trophy.

    The celebrations peaked amid dancing and singing of the national anthem to wild cheers.

    Earlier in the day, the few Greeks that had actually slept after all-night celebrations woke up hoarse and bleary-eyed, with many still in disbelief at what the team had accomplished.

    Greece, who started the tournament as 80-1 outsiders, stunned the soccer world Sunday by winning Euro 2004 after defeating hosts Portugal 1-0 in Lisbon.



     
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