Group C
Greece may have missed out on the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals, but they finished UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying with the highest points total of any side – 31 – despite suffering one of the most humiliating defeats in their history.
Anticipated clash
With Aegean rivals Greece and Turkey drawn together, Group C was always going to be an intense competition. And much was expected of the meeting between the two sides in Athens on 24 March 2007 after both teams had won their opening three qualifiers. An injury-weakened Turkey had every reason to be fearful but the day was to end in massive disappointment for Otto Rehhagel's side.
Rehhagel magnanimous
Having taken the lead after five minutes through Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Greece froze dramatically, with Tuncay Şanlı, Gökhan Ünal, Tümer Metin and Gökdeniz Karadeniz all finding the target in a 4-1 win for Fatih Terim's men. "Although we got an early goal we couldn't keep up with Turkey's tempo and they got better by the minute," said Rehhagel. "In the end, they earned a fair victory here."
Greek recovery
A proud Terim said: "Those who played their part in this success when there was such a massive number of injured players in our squad will take their places in history." However, his side's form was to waver alarmingly in subsequent games, with draws against Norway, Malta and Moldova and a defeat in Bosnia-Herzegovina while – chastened by their defeat - Greece got their house back in order.
Return fixture
The two teams met for a second time in Istanbul, with Ioannis Amanatidis scoring the only goal as Greece avenged their defeat in Athens to qualify for the finals. Under the headline "Emperors!", Greek newspaper Sportime called it was "one of the greatest nights in Greek footballing history". Turkey, meanwhile, were left third in the group with Åge Hareide's Norway making a late bid for a finals' berth.
'Significant contribution'
The pressure was to bring the best out of Terim's men as they reclaimed second place with a 2-1 win against Norway in Oslo before confirming their progress with a 1-0 win at home against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their final game. "Had we missed our chance, someone would have had to take responsibility and I would have done so," said Terim. "But now we are through, I will be with my team. I made a promise that we would qualify and make a significant contribution at the finals. The first part of that mission is accomplished – now it's time to focus on the second."
Matches
- Key:
Group - Top scorers
| 7 | Iversen - Norway |
| 6 | Hakan Şükür - Turkey |
| 5 | Gekas - Greece |
| 4 | Carew - Norway |
| 4 | Frunza - Moldova |
| 4 | Gera - Hungary |
| 4 | Misimović - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 3 | Basinas - Greece |
| 3 | Bugaev - Moldova |
| 3 | Charisteas - Greece |
| 3 | Kyrgiakos - Greece |
| 3 | Liberopoulos - Greece |
| 3 | Michael Mifsud - Malta |
| 3 | Muslimović - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 3 | Nihat Kahveci - Turkey |
| 3 | Schembri - Malta |
| 3 | Tuncay Şanlı - Turkey |
| 2 | Amanatidis - Greece |
| 2 | Gökhan - Turkey |
| 2 | Hagen - Norway |
| 2 | Hamit Altıntop - Turkey |
| 2 | Katsouranis - Greece |
| 2 | M. Hrgović - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 2 | Pedersen - Norway |
| 2 | Riise - Norway |
| 2 | Rogaciov - Moldova |
| 2 | Solskjær - Norway |
| 2 | Strømstad - Norway |
| 2 | Tümer Metin - Turkey |
| 1 | Alexeev - Moldova |
| 1 | Andresen - Norway |
| 1 | Aurelio - Turkey |
| 1 | B. Riise - Norway |
| 1 | Barbarez - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 1 | Bartolović - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 1 | Braaten - Norway |
| 1 | Brenne - Norway |
| 1 | Buzsáky - Hungary |
| 1 | Ćustović - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 1 | Damjanović - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 1 | Dárdai - Hungary |
| 1 | Džeko - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 1 | Emre Belözoğlu - Turkey |
| 1 | Epureanu - Moldova |
| 1 | Feczesin - Hungary |
| 1 | Gökdeniz Karadeniz - Turkey |
| 1 | Grlić - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 1 | Hæstad - Norway |
| 1 | Halil Altıntop - Turkey |
| 1 | Helstad - Norway |
| 1 | Huszti - Hungary |
| 1 | Ibišević - Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| 1 | Josan - Moldova |
| 1 | Mallia - Malta |
| 1 | Pace - Malta |
| 1 | Patsatzoglou - Greece |
| 1 | Priskin - Hungary |
| 1 | Sabri Sarıoğlu - Turkey |
| 1 | Said - Malta |
| 1 | Samaras - Greece |
| 1 | Scerri - Malta |
| 1 | Seitaridis - Greece |
| 1 | Servet Çetin - Turkey |
| 1 | Torghelle - Hungary |
| 1 | Tőzsér - Hungary |
| 1 | Ümit Karan - Turkey |