Euro 2004: A Tournament for the Aegeans

I am sitting on the balcony of our hotel room, looking out over the pool area of the resort we are staying at in Gumbet, near Bodrum, Turkey. There is a commotion going on among the bar with the poolside staff and some of the guests and I realise that tonight is the final of Euro 2004. I haven’t really followed the latter stages of the tournament too closely for two reasons: England were knocked out in the quarter finals on penalties (obviously) by the host nation Portugal, and because I was on my first summer holiday with my (then) girlfriend.

We were due down for dinner by the pool anyway so off we went with a bit of trepidation. We were guilty of carrying with us some essentially media-fuelled stereotypical prejudice. My then-girlfriend had been to Turkey previously as a child in the 1990s, and had had it drilled into her, probably through her parents, that there had been historical tensions between Turkey and their neighbours Greece. I, too, had the same education through my parents and the news back home in general growing up at that time.

My parents often took me to Greece on holiday and Cyprus one year. I remember asking where Cyprus was when I was small and learning that it was a large island in the Aegean Sea inhabited by both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots and that they were essentially separated by barbed wire and a British armed forces base. That sounded scary and war-like. When I asked where in Cyprus we were going, I was told, “the Greek half”. Again, this sounded divisional and confrontational.

So, there we were, sat at the table by the pool, when a waiter came over to get a drinks order. I asked who was playing in the final and the waiter replied, “Greece! They are playing against the hosts, Portugal. It is so exciting!”

I am not too proud to admit that this took me by surprise. I had been indoctrinated both at home and school that two conflicting nations are often against each other in many things, not just directly relating to land or religion. You can separate Greece and Turkey by the River Evros/Meric (depending which side of the river you are, Maritsa if you’re higher up the river in Bulgaria) or by Christianity on one side and Islam on the other. But we see tiny petty things occur like votes in Eurovision going against each other and reports of the pros and cons of membership with the European Union.

But sat there, sipping our Efes beer and watching dozens of Turkish people, including some locals who had come round to watch on the big screen in the pool bar, cheer and hug and kiss when Angelos Charisteas scored in the 57th minute and then literally dance in celebration when the final whistle blew as they witnessed their biggest rivals won their first and only major tournament trophy, was so heart-warming and joyous. This is when you realise that all the perceived animosity and vitriol that is brought to us via our TV screens and newspapers, and now the internet, can often be little more than the stirring of a pot to encourage division.

Don’t get me wrong, the history between these two peoples is not exactly rosy. There have been wars and conflicts and political disputes for centuries, millennia even, but tensions in that region are far better than they have been in decades gone by. They are probably better still, some 20 years after this fantastic footballing event. This is when you realise that for real people, not politicians or hate-mongers in the media, real people working in a hotel or just living by the beach in a random Turkish town, watching an underdog come out victorious, especially an underdog you can closely relate to, is an emotional and joyous occasion. It is something to celebrate and be proud of.

I’m not too sure whether that sentiment can carry elsewhere in the world. Looking closer to home, despite centuries passing since the Battle of Bannockburn, I cannot see being in a bar in Scotland and seeing the glee on the face of the locals if England had triumphed over Italy to win Euro 2020. The other way around might have been more likely given that the English could then claim a Scotland victory as one for the British. Nor do I hold out much hope that, one day, an Israeli bar may be cheering on Palestine in the Asian Cup final, even if they wanted to but for fear of persecution… mainly because it isn’t clear whether either state will exist at all.

Back to the football. There had been confidence from the Greeks that they could win because not only had they ridden a wave of momentum all the way to the final but they had actually already beaten Portugal in the tournament’s opening group game. They won this 2-1, as well as earning a point against a Spain team on the cusp of European and world domination, before knocking out the reigning European champions France.

Turkey did not qualify for the tournament and maybe that helped the Turkish spectators throw their support behind Greece without their own nation to cheer for. The atmosphere at a small pool bar in a humble holiday resort in Turkey held zero animosity to their supposed arch-nemesis nation; only love and support. Watching Turks of all ages join with guests from a variety of countries – including us English but not including any Greeks – party into the night and revel in the success of their neighbours is a memory that will never die inside my mind.

It is encouraging that amid all the issues in the world and often hateful hooliganism involved in the sport, that at the heart of football people just love to see a huge win by an underdog. When the little guy sticks it to the man; when David beats Goliath; when rage against the machine pays off, it creates magic. True football magic. A moment that will live on forever in the hearts of football fans everywhere. Not just in Greece, but in Turkey and everywhere…except maybe Portugal.

Euro 2004 and the victory of Greece was a footballing moment for the ages and especially for people on both sides of the Aegean Sea.