Euro 2004 - the Final, 4 July 2004
Indonesians are football crazy. Thousands watched the Euro 2004 games live on TV in sportsbars and clubs across the country; many millions watched at home. Being 6 hours ahead of host country Portugal, this meant watching most of the games at 1.45 - 3.30 am.
I watched the final on a large projection-TV screen in a private room hired at a club by a friend and his office collegues. I arrived about 1 am straight from a dinner party but the rest (about 25) had been there since 10 pm and some of them were already feeling the effects of some heavy beer drinking.
Most, including my friend, had serious bets riding on the outcome with all but 3 of them backing Portugal to win. The first 10 minutes I spent moaning about the massive opportunity missed by England in this tournament then I started to concentrate on the game itself. After 20 minutes I told my friend that there was no way Portugal were going to score and he seemed to agree with me. He 'washed' his bet at half time and backed Greece. So, in the end, the whole Greek nation and my friend were happy ! Whereas I just felt a bit numb as I crawled into bed at 5 am. I mean, was THAT it ? The culmination of the once-every-4-years contest to determine the champions of Europe? The cream failed to raise to the top and most of the big stars underperformed. Good luck to the Greeks, they were superb as a team on a mission. They stuck to their task, played with great spirit and prevailed. But please don't anybody try to tell me that Greece is the best football team in Europe ! The best team in the tournament was Czech Rep and if England had played anywhere near their potential they could have walked this one. Sorry Becks, Owen and Scholes, I've been a big fan of all of you for years, but that was a 'no show' as far as I'm concerned. I feel sorry for the only ones who brought their 'A'game - Campbell, Neville (G), Cole (A) and of course Wayne Rooney.
