European Championship Stories; 2004, Greek Economies of Scale

One of the greatest surprises in the history of international football occurred because the winning team's coach recognised the limitations of his squad.

As football entered the twenty-first century its race towards full industrialisation had more or less been completed. Resource management had become everything. In club football, scouting networks had diversified in order to fall quickly upon any young player spotted that hadn’t already got a professional contract, whilst at international level the stigma surrounding appointing foreign coaches had been diluted with several high profile European appointments. 

Football, both at club and international level, had long since become stratified, with familiar faces expected to win familiar trophies. In 2004, though, the rule book was tossed aside by a team and a coach who understood their limitations and played within them to a tactical system which sought to minimise risk and maximise gain, and what came to pass was possibly the greatest surprise win in the entire history of international tournament football.