Maybe Football DOES Explain Everything

Yesterday's post pointed out how, contrary to one book's title, soccer does NOT explain the world.


But today's 1-1 tie between host Poland and the motherland was practically a microcosm of Greece's current plight. 


Facing the host nation in the Euro 2012 opener, Greece came out with what appeared to be a mixture of lethargy, sluggishness and even disinterest.  The players on the pitch vividly, too vividly, represented the populace of a proud nation whose citizens have been worn down by recession, unemployment, incompetence and pessimism.


Less than 20 minutes in, Greece trailed 0-1 after Poland took advantage of our goal keeper getting out of position; was it a metaphor for Greece's out of whack accounting ledgers? 


Things got even worse - believe it or not - when Sokratis Papastathopoulos was forced to swallow the equivalent of hemlock when we was given two highly highly dubious yellow cards (which equals a red card) and was ejected.  


So Greece was cheated by a referee and after the ejection were reduced to 10 players - a metaphor for austerity?


The combination of lethargy and being a player down resulted in Greece being thoroughly outplayed in the first half, and down 0-1 after 45 minutes.


But then, improbably and hopefully, some rays of hope emerged.

One, instead of giving in to the notorious Greek fatalism the Hellenes fought back.  Led by second half substitute Dimitris Salpingidis - the best player during the qualifying round of EURO 2012 - Ellas was much more aggressive and active.


Salpingidis was rewarded for his effort when he scored the equalizer less than 15 minutes into the second half after he poked in a rebound off a header from Fanis Gekas.  Despite being down a man Greece had come back and tied it.


The good fortune continued in the second half when the Polish goalie was given a red card for taking down Salpingidis in front of their goal.  


Of course, we are talking about Greeks here, a peoples who seldom do a good job with good fortune (for instance, we get the Olympic games but they help bankrupt the country; after World War I we're given half a loaf of Asia Minor but blow it trying to conquer the entire loaf, etc. etc.).


Today, that turned into George Karagounis, the Greek captain and a hero of the 2004 European champions, failing to convert a point-blank penalty kick.  Though we were down a man, we should have scored there and won the game.


Ten minutes later, Greece's bad luck struck again when a iffy off sides penalty was called against Kostas Fortounis - a Greek footballer who plays where else, in Germany - and negated another potential goal from Salpingidis. 


What a game.


Greece, a country battered by their own political incompetence and punished with a draconian austerity plan imposed by their European partners, fielded a team that had their own battles against a partisan home crowd, a bad referee who called two crazy yellow cards, a 10-player squad for most of the game, and a tight off sides call that negated the potential game-winning goal - yet still managed a tie and thus a point against Poland.  


Being down a player seemed to inspire fight rather than fatalism.  It was a proud nation showing admirable fight and pride in the face of adversity.  


I think all Greeks, members of the Greek diaspora, and phil-Hellenes hope that kind of fight continues in Euro 2012 but also inspires our motherland to do the same.


Zito H Ellas!

• Greece's next game is Tuesday at noon against the Czech Republic. The Czech's were demolished 1-4 against our Orthodox brothers from Russia today.  
• If Greece plays 90 minutes versus the Czechs the way they fought in the second half today I love our chances.  Greece was on the attack in the second half, and made a great comeback.
• Kudos to ESPN's crew for their Hellenism.  
• One, Greek-American Alexi Lalas proudly talked about the Greek squad in the pre-game show, complete with excellent Greek language skills pronouncing the long Greek last names.
• Two, ESPN's Ian Dark pointed out the many Greek Communists settled in Poland after their side lost the Greek civil war. Excellent historical note!
• Finally, three, Bob Ley summed up 2,500 years of Greek history when he said in the post-game shpw: "Sometimes your good, sometimes your lucky, sometimes your Greek."