Vivid, Vague Memories Of A Time Gone By

FC Porto winning the UEFA Champions League in May 2004 was thought to be the perfect prelude to football's biggest international event in the continent, surpassed only by the magnitude of the FIFA World Cup. Right, this epic event brings back a lot of memories, good and bad, surprising and obvious, tearful and cheerful to name a few. Work commitments meant I missed the opening ceremony. However I promptly booked holidays for the first few games, at least.

My first and foremost memory of the tournament is Portugal's shock defeat at the hands of minnos Greece, who took defensive football to a whole new dimension, giving the Italians a run for their money. Ronaldo's extra time goal could not save the hosts from an embarrassing defeat in front of their people as Greece had popped two goals long before, thanks to Georgious Karagounis and Angelos Basinas. So for me personally the tournament started with a shock! I mean who, in their wildest dreams could have imagined Greece?

Moving on to the first biggest clash, one of those this-should-have-been-the-finals kind of matches, yes; England against France. What a mouth-watering prospect. India, by the way does not have a national football team to compete against the giants of football, as we are a country plagued by cricket. Hence we Indians are left with no choice but support other countries. My favourite team had always been England. Simply because of my love for Manchester United. Right, the stage was set and so was I. The game was pretty much ordinary until Beckham produced a trademark free kick, clinically disposed of by the prolific scoring Frank Lampard. This was the only strike and we England supporters were hysterical until it happened. Penalty for England!!! The hysteria rose!!! Up stepped captain David Beckham. Only to be denied by a diving Barthez. We could breath a sigh of relief as the clock ticked into injury time. Just about, when France got a free kick at the edge of the area. Zidane steps up. Big moments, big players. A phrase tailor made for this occasion. He curls this shot past the wall and past David James, 1-1! Back to the center. We've dropped 2 points think England fans. Now Stevie Gerrard of all people misplaces a pass and the ball lands at Henry's feet, who gets fouled by David James. Penalty!!! We're not short of drama are we? Zidane at the spot. Ball at the back of the net. 2-1 to France and so it stays till the final whistle. That's when I felt sympathetic towards Bayern Munich fans after Manchester United completed their treble in Barcelona in May 1999. Second memory for me- Tearful!

Italy, the home of Ferrari, my favourite Formula One team did not lose a single match in this tournament! Still they got out in the first round. Pathetic display of football combined with Totti's controversy and the allegations on Sweden and Denmark that they did not want Italy to progress summed up a disastrous campaign for the Italians who were led by Fabio Cannavaro for the first time in a major tournament, following Paolo Maldini's retirement.

In 1998, during the world cup in France, we saw the emergence of a new, young England striker called Micheal Owen. His pace and ability made him England's latest football sensation back then. Six years on we were to witness history repeat itself. Come Euro 2004, he shot into the limelight with two goals each against Switzerland and Croatia. Wayne Rooney he is called. He was England's class act in the tournament. He was mesmerising and his temperament was exceptional for a 17 year old. Another one of those nice memories of Euro 2004, Wayne Rooney.

However the most important memory of all happened while the final was being played between Portugal and Greece. Greece were already leading 1-0 thanks to a goal by Angelos Charisteas. A Portuguese fan runs onto the pitch and throws a Barcelona flag on Luis Figo's face and runs off. This is something I will always remember whenever someone mentions Euro 2004 to me.

Overall I was happy that Greece won the championship, but I was not happy about the way they did the job. I would have liked to see a more attacking and free-flowing football, like the way France played. I hope to see some good end-to-end action this time around. However the most fitting thing to have happened to the sporting fraternity of the world was Greece winning the championship as a prelude to the 2004 Athens Olympics. Thats wat sports is all about, the kind of coincidences and the kind of ordinary men who rise to the occasion and become heroes at the end of it all. Long live sports, long life sportsmen.