100,000 welcome football team at Panathenian stadium

(6 Jul 2004) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Panathenian stadium
2. Three flags
3. Wide of stadium with giant TV screen and giant Olympic rings
4. Wide of stadium and pan to stage
5. Greek flag being passed through crowd
6. Wide of fans with Greek flags
7. Close up of Greek flags
8. Mid shot of flares in crowd
9. Wide shot of of flares in crowd
10. Players make their way to the stage through a mass of people with the Henri Delauney trophy being held aloft
11. Wide of stage
12. Henri Delauney trophy being held aloft by players
13. Fans
14. Pan to players and coaching staff seated on stage
15. Greece captain Theodoros Zagorakis receiving a trophy in a presentation
16. Wide of players walking up to receive medals
17. Mid shot of Greece squad sitting on stage
18. Greece coach Otto Rehhagel receiving medal
19. Close up of Henri Delauney trophy
20. Wide of trophy presentation
STORYLINE
Europe's new soccer champions returned to a heroes' welcome on Monday as hundreds of thousands of partying fans lined the streets to greet them, and Greece's spirits soared five weeks before the start of the Olympic Games on August 13.
Music to "Zorba the Greek" blared out and fireworks exploded as the players were showered with honours at the all-marble Panathenian stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.
Supporters - still hoarse from wild night-long celebrations - roared "Greece, Greece" and "Bring on Brazil" as the shock European Championship winners arrived.
More than 100-thousand people in and around the stadium sang the national anthem and chanted "God is German" to honour coach Otto Rehhagel, who has been offered Greek citizenship.
A beaming Rehhagel sat holding the cup at the front of a bus which brought the team from the airport. Thousands of motorcycles blaring their horns followed the bus on its 35 kilometres (22 miles) route as it ploughed through a sea of flares and Greek flags.
Police, gearing up for massive Olympic security next month, occasionally appeared to lose their grip on the ecstatic crowds.
National colours of blue and white were draped over the city, over balcony rails, flapping out car windows, painted onto faces, tied around pet dogs and made into hats, T-shirts, champagne labels and cake decorations.
Angelos Charisteas' winning header against Portugal was shown all day on giant outdoor television screens - the moment that sealed Greece's remarkable three week run past the hosts, Russia, Spain, France and the Czech Republic.
Each victory was followed by an ever-growing street celebration in Athens, other Greece cities and in Greek communities from New York to Melbourne, Australia.
Monday's party was the biggest.
The 65-year-old Rehhagel, now sought by his native Germany before they host the 2006 World Cup finals, is credited with transforming a Greek side which has no household names in the sport and a domestic league plagued by fan violence and financial crisis.
Success at Euro 2004 comes as a welcome distraction for Athenians who have suffered months of road closures and other late preparations for the Olympics.
Athens newspapers compared the players to winners of the ancient Olympic Games and rued the fact there were no walls around Athens to tear down in the traditional greeting for returning champions.
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