"Euro, Euro!" yelled a police officer this morning as he powered off from a polling station in Plaka on his motorbike. Was he making an impassioned plea for the socioeconomic future of Greece and sustainability of the single currency? No, he was not. He was talking about football.
Last night, in an election-eve triumph that gave a browbeaten country a few moments of joie de vivre and national pride, Greece pulled off an unexpected win against Russia in the European Championships. The victory brought thousands of flag-waving, blue-and-white-clad fans onto the streets of Athens. Omonia Square, the capital's traditional arena of celebration, echoed to the sound of firecrackers, car horns and unprintable chants.
But, as if a big footballing win the night before the country's most important election in decades was not enough, mischievous destiny had another card up her sleeve. It is very likely that Greece's next fixture – in the quarter-final – will be against Germany. One of the loudest chants last night concerned Chancellor Merkel, but I won't repeat it here.
Twitter is now awash with jokes along the lines of this post from @Nndroid: "If Greece get Germany in the quarter-finals, will Angela Merkel try to tell the Greeks how many goals they have to concede?"
Captain Giorgos Karagounis, star of Greece's legendary 2004 side and scorer of last night's winning goal, said the country's debt woes had encouraged the players to perform on the pitch. "When we left Greece, we all said 'really give it everything'," he told reporters. "We would have anyway, but the [hardship] made us fight more."
