As Greece's Group A reckoning approaches, Vassiliki Papantonopoulou
singles out the archetypal Greek soldier whose example can inspire them
to victory against Russia.
Twenty years ago, a lad of 15, wore the Greece national jersey for
the first time as a member of the Under-17 team. He has gone on to play a
total of 111 matches for the Greek under-age selections and 119 for the
senior side.
He scored twice in a 5-0 win against a Netherlands
side that featured Mark van Bommel, Boudewijn Zenden and Wilfred Bouma
to get third place in the 1995 UEFA European Under-18 Championship.
Three
years later, in 1998, he scored the winner against Michael Ballack's
Germany in the semi-final, and captained his team to the final of the
UEFA European U21 Championship, which Greece lost to Guti's Spain.
Six years later in Porto, he scored the first goal in Greece's 2-1
opening night win against Portugal, setting the tone en route to his
nation's finest sporting achievement to-date, winning UEFA EURO 2004.
On
Saturday night, he will once again wear national team kit and the
captain's armband, and will lead his team-mates at the National Stadium
Warsaw in a win-or-bust match against Russia, that will determine
Greece's UEFA EURO 2012 fate. In the toughest and most significant match
his side have played in two years, he will equal the Greek record of
120 caps set by another great captain, Theodoros Zagorakis.
Giorgos
Karagounis – for it is he – is a unique figure in Greek football. He
has never made magazine covers, and does not possess the face or the
body that tend to attract attention. Yet this archetypal Greek soldier
is in a league of his own. What makes him stand out? To borrow the words
of fellow UEFA EURO 2004 winner Panagiotis Fyssas: "His passion, energy
and will to win every match. He never thinks his time has passed and
that he has given all he could possibly give to the team. He never feels
finished. He could go on playing for another 200 years."
This
passion that Karagounis brings onto the pitch is what Greece will need –
and they need all 11 players on the pitch to show it. They also need
his footballing brain, his ability to hold the ball and buy time – also
multiplied by 11. For this will be more than a game of lungs and legs.
Greece will need to bring their minds and souls into the match, just
like their oldest teenager, their captain, has done all his life.
