People know the Fourth of July as Independence Day in America. But for a football fan, today marks the ninth anniversary of the most beautiful underdog story written in recent football history. Back in 2004, on a warm Lisbon night, Greece won Euro 2004.

The world stood in awe in front of the miracle which saw a small team making it to the top of Europe after slaying football giants, such as Zinedine Zidane’s France and Pavel Nedved’s Czech Republic. As L’Equipe said: “Incredible, but Greek”.

Today, conversely, is a sad day for English fans as the country moved down the FIFA rankings to 15^th place, right behind Bosnia and Herzegovina. This might spark even further pessimism towards the upcoming World Cup. However, Greece’s triumph was not only the biggest upset in football history, but also a lesson to be learned for other teams - especially England.

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Before the opening match between Greece and Portugal, former Bolton midfielder, Stelios Giannakopoulos, said that “Greece is not here for tourism”. Therefore, the team were implying that they arrived to Portugal with a purpose. The ‘Pirate Ship’ carried a huge amount of passion throughout that month which was shown by the unbelievable performance by goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis and the excellent work by centre backs Michalis Kapsis and Traianos Dellas. Passion was the key that made them go that extra mile.

Perhaps England should start aiming a lot higher than what they are expected to. People say that the Three Lions should at least reach the semi-finals of any major tournament. However, big teams should aim to win the whole thing. A bunch of underdogs came to Lisbon determined to shock the world and did just that, starting by eliminating currently the best team in the world, Spain. If England go to Brazil believing they can win the World Cup, then they will give themselves a huge mental boost.

That of course doesn’t mean that they should act like favourites. The best part about being considered the underdog is that you have nothing to lose. That provides even less pressure as the concept of shame is out of the equation. Small Greece played a safe bet by accepting the underdog tag but were also determined to make an impression.

The cliché goes “There is no I in team,” but the White and Blue proved the importance of that as it was a team that won the tournament, not a number of personalities. After the triumph, the team’s unity was unfortunately shattered which led to Greece’s eventual elimination from the 2006 World Cup and their annihilation on Euro 2008.

England consists of amazing players and personalities such as Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole and Theo Walcott. However, these personalities need to unite and sit under the same roof. Perhaps Roy Hodgson and Steven Gerrard should have a word with Otto Rehhagel and Theo Zagorakis, 2004 Player of the Tournament, as it is the manager and captain that need to work harder on creating unity and discipline within the team.

Every Greek player that year honoured the badge and did its best to represent it against players like Raul, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo. England should leave every other worry, such as clubs and contracts, back home and turn the national team into an absolute priority. Nikopolidis was about to jump from Panathinaikos to rivals Olympiacos that year, but that didn’t stop him from giving 100 per cent on the pitch.

Walcott’s no. 9 shirt, as well as all the other shirts are very heavy as they are carrying a gigantic legacy created by Bobby Moore and his gang. However, these legendary veterans should also show the team some support. Sir Bobby Charlton described a potential England triumph as “a fool’s errand”. The 1966 winners shouldn’t underrate their team but instead motivate and inspire them. Former Fulham player, Giorgos Karagounis, who is also a Euro 2004 icon, was one of the reasons that Greece advanced to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012.

England fans argue that the difference between the national team and the Premier League is that it is the foreign players that make the difference in every domestic team, such as Juan Mata, Luis Suarez and David Silva. However, players like Frank Lampard, Danny Welbeck and Leighton Baines are very important players in their respective teams and a lot more well-known than Angelos Charisteas, Zisis Vryzas and Takis Fyssas were back then. Rehhagel’s armada had no world class players back in 2004. The Three Lions, however, have got at least nine. The team needs to get over that ‘pool’ idea and make the best out of what they have. The two games against Confederations Cup winners Brazil showed a lot of potential.

‘King Otto’ didn’t make any excuses about his team and made the utmost of what he had. His admittedly non-attractive game style not only got Greece out of the group stage, but also led the team to the top of the European mountain and countless Greeks celebrating out in the streets of Athens.

Like it or not, the supporters are also part of the team. The fans’ feedback is always important. Jeers and pessimism never help a team. In order for any football team to perform well, both fans and squad need to work together. A team rarely gives up on its supporters, provided that the fans never give up on the squad. If they lose they will go down with a fight, provided that their audience is behind them.

Greek fans were constantly behind Zagorakis and his lads. Even after a close elimination by Russia in the group stage, the supporters didn’t stop believing in the team. After a mediocre performance in the 2010 World Cup, and a 2-0 defeat against South Korea, the fans still didn’t lose confidence in their beloved team and the players returned the favour by eliminating Russia out of last year’s Euros and returning home as one of Europe’s best eight teams.

Rehhagel’s boys taught us that anything can happen in football. The 2004 triumph still and forever will work as an endless inspiration for all Greek teams and fans. Hodgson’s team, and supporters, should perhaps dig deep and revisit the team’s legacy. They should go back to that magic day in 1966 at Wembley and remember what happened.

Then, perhaps, they might find the same inspiration that a currently tormented Greece is receiving. It is that triumph that made the White and Blue climb the FIFA rankings and it is the memories that kept the country in eleventh place.

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