France suffers Greek tragedy, coaches tumble
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-26 14:18

Defending champion France was sensationally knocked out of Euro 2004 when it lost 1-0 to Greece in the quarterfinals Friday to join Italy, Spain, Germany and England on the way home.

As the Greeks celebrated the biggest upset in the tournament's history, recriminations continued from the other departing heavyweights, with England rounding on the referee Urs and some loose turf for its traumatic defeat by Portugal and Spain and Italy announcing coaching changes.

France's goalkeeper Fabien Barthez looks into his goal during the Euro 2004 quarterfinal soccer match between France and Greece. [AP]

Greece sent the French packing when Angelos Haristeas rose unchallenged to power a header past French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez from seven yards in the 65th minute.

"We played the best team in the world and we beat them," said Haristeas. "This had nothing to do with luck."

The Greeks, who began their campaign by defeating host Portugal 2-1, had never won a game at a major championship before Euro 2004 but they can look forward to a semifinal against the Czech Republic or Denmark.

"We weren't thinking clearly toward the end," said French coach Jacques Santini, whose team was knocked out on a night when midfielder Zinedine Zidane and defender Lilian Thuram made record 14th appearances in the finals.

"It's a big disappointment. We had hoped to get to the final."

Lisbon awoke with a collective hangover after celebrating Portugal's win over England.

Hundreds of thousands of people spent the night celebrating the hosts' 6-5 penalty shootout win which followed a pulsating 2-2 draw.

BITTER DEFEAT

But England, outplayed for much of the game, took the defeat bitterly.

Several English newspapers insulted Swiss referee Urs Meier while the team appeared to be clutching at straws as it attempted to explain its defeat at a mournful news conference.

"In football things like this happen," said coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. "I went into the referee's dressing room after the game and what I said will stay between him and me.

"All of us make bad mistakes sometimes and maybe yesterday was one of the them."

Captain David Beckham, who skied the first penalty over the crossbar, said the pitch at the Luz stadium was to blame for his wayward shot.

"The night before the match we practiced penalties at both ends. Our feet were giving way under us.

"The same thing happened on the first penalty. When I planted my foot, the ball lifted."

Away from Portugal, coaches were already paying the inevitable price for failure.

Inaki Saez quit his job with Spain and Angel Maria Villar, head of the country's soccer federation, said the 61-year-old had been victim of a media lynching. Saez had initially said he would stay on but changed his mind after vicious criticism on his return to Madrid.

In Rome, Marcello Lippi, who won five Serie A titles in two spells at Juventus, was named as Italy coach, starting on July 16. He will replace Giovanni Trapattoni, who had refused to quit and will see out the remaining three weeks of his contract.

Sweden plays the Netherlands in the third quarterfinal on Saturday before the Czechs and Danes complete the last-eight matches Sunday.

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