Enlarge image
Otto Rehhagel receiving the award from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Photo:
Dimitris Papamitsos/dpa
With his victory at the 2004 European Football Championship, he sparked euphoria in Greece: Former football player and coach Otto Rehhagel, 85, was honored for his life's work in Athens on Monday evening and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Greek sports portal "gazzetta.gr." been recorded. The trophy was presented to him by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Mitsotakis said he was moved and honored to honor the man who led the country to the top of Europe. »We will never forget the summer of 2004.«
"I wished the Prime Minister smart decisions, like we made in Portugal," said Rehhagel. When you're in charge somewhere, you have to make decisions that make everyone happy. The translation into Greek was then carried out by his assistant and translator at the time, Ioannis Topalidis, a former football player who played for many German clubs during his playing days.
The Greek national team traveled to the European Championships in Portugal in 2004 as absolute outsiders. At this point, Rehhagel had already been the Greek national coach for three years. Under him, nothing but lone fighters became a team, according to Greek fans who still talk about the “Miracle of Lisbon.” Because of his European Championship success, Rehhagel has been an honorary citizen of Athens since 2004.
The 85-year-old is still one of the most successful trainers in Germany. Rehhagel was, among other things, German champion with Werder Bremen (1988, 1993), DFB Cup winner (1991, 1994) and winner of the European Cup Winners' Cup (1992). He led FC Bayern Munich to the UEFA Cup final in 1996. In 1998 he became the first and only promoted team to win the championship with second division team Kaiserslautern.
ara/dpa