Eight years ago Angelo Charisteas scored the winning goal for Greece to mark one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.
Where is he now?
Greece went into Euro 2004 with little expectation. Their nation was concentrating on hosting the Athens 2004 Olympic games, and drawn in a group with Spain, Russia and host nation Portugal, their chances looked slim.
They defied the odds, winning their first match against Portugal 2-1 and holding Spain to a draw. It would be enough to take them through and knock the future World Champions out of the competition.
Greece’s goal against Spain was scored by striker Angelo Charisteas, his first of the tournament. He netted an unlikely winner against France in the quarter-final, before heading in the decisive goal in a memorable 1-0 win against Portugal in the final.
Charisteas along with the rest of the Greek squad became a national hero, but few in world football were kidding themselves, the side were not superstars, big money bids from the Real Madrids and the AC Milans of this world never arrived.
For his club side Werder Bremen in the run up to Euro 2004 Charisteas had scored just four goals all season. Bremen kept hold of him in the wake of his Euro 2004 success, but only for six months.
The returning hero still found it difficult to hold onto a first team place and when international manager Otto Rehhagel told him to seek a move he listened. Ajax paid £4 million for his services and Bremen decided it was too good to refuse.
His time in the Eredivisie was again mixed, and Ajax would be the first of seven clubs he played for his a nomadic seven years. He had the large task of replacing Zlatan Ibrahimovic who had departed for Italy and his initial progress was halted by niggling injuries.
He would go onto sign with rivals Feyenoord, a controversial move which saw him only last one season before heading back to Germany with Nuremburg. He scored just seven goals in 38 games before being loaned to Bayer Leverkusen, scoring once, and heading back to Nuremburg for another disappointing season, scoring just once. Clearly he had lost his way, and the buzz which had once surrounded him thanks to his Euro 2004 heroics was becoming a distant memory. One goal at Euro 2008, again against Spain was not enough to stop Greece relinquishing their crown.
The 2010 World Cup offered him a chance to rekindle his success, but Greece were knocked out in the group stages after playing just one game. While Rehhagel quit as coach, Charisteas carried on, and scored important goals to help them qualify for Euro 2012, becoming their second ever highest scorer.
Back at club level a disastrous spell with French minnow Arles-Avignon would follow, with his contract terminated after just seven games, and in 2011 he found rescue when he was picked up by Schalke. The Germans were enjoying a successful season, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League, and Charisteas even featured in the win against Inter Milan, but he was never a regular and was a bit-part player along for the ride.
He was released and signed with Greek side Pantelikos last summer. One year and four goals later he is a free agent again. Despite playing his part in qualifying he was not selected fro Greece’s Euro 2012 squad.
While Greece have a chance to cause an upset as big as any they caused at Euro 2004 tonight when they take on Germany, Charisteas will be watching on and remembering, while hoping his career still has a fairytale ending. At 32 he has plenty of football left in him, and while never the most prolific of forwards, he might just have some important goals for his next club in him yet.
image: © wjarrettc
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