Rehhagel recipe revealed

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has said that his team's 1-0 win over holders France in the UEFA EURO 2004™ quarter-final was only possible because of the players' strong willpower and great discipline.

Solid right-back
And Rehhagel should know what he is talking about. The 65-year-old German has had a long career in football, beginning as a player with Rot-Weiss Essen in the late 1950s before moving on to Hertha BSC Berlin and, finally, 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He stayed at the Betzenberg for six seasons and played 201 Bundesliga games in all, scoring 22 goals from his right-back position.

Offenbach beginning
Rehhagel did not hang around for long after finishing his playing career and was appointed coach of Kickers Offenbach in 1974. Spells of varying success followed with SV Werder Bremen, BV Borussia Dortmund and DSC Arminia Bielefeld but it was not until he returned to Bremen in 1981 that his coaching career took off.

Worked his magic
He stayed at the Weserstadion for 14 years and won two Bundesliga titles, two German Cups and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1992. A disappointing spell with FC Bayern München followed before he worked his magic again, this time back at Kaiserslautern, where he led his old team to promotion in 1997 and won the league the following year.

Greek rise
Rehhagel has now used all of his experience to make Greece one of Europe's strongest teams. Rehhagel said after the France game: "You have to accept the rules in a group of 30 people. When I came into this squad the players did what they liked. Now they do what they have to."

Silence on tactics
He also admitted that his team may have benefited from the underdogs' tag that they have enjoyed so far. He said: "We have been the outsiders and we have adopted this role successfully and done well." Rehhagel's tactical nous has also helped - he has switched from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 during the tournament, but did not want to reveal the finer details of his tactics.

Team spirit
"You all know that I have never spoken about tactics even if everything is a question of tactics," he said. "This win is the result of three years' work. The Greeks are normally known as individuals but you are only strong as a team. We have been working day and night for this.

Successful strategy
"We performed with passion and a lot of fighting spirit and achieved something. My players kept to the strategy we had agreed on and the news of our result will go around the world. Now we must regroup and look forward to the next game with joy."