GREECE 2

Southgate's snorefest squad are boring their way to glory just like Greeks in '04

- KEITH JACKSON

IT all started horribly in Munich. But if Scotland's fans thought they were hitting rock bottom on opening night at Euro 2024, then they had better start bracing themselves for something even more nightmarish.

Tomorrow night in Dortmund England's march towards the holy grail will continue when Gareth Southgate's side takes on the Netherlands for a place in this summer's final.

Well, perhaps 'march' is stretching it a bit. Truth is they've been staggering and stumbling around all over Germany and yet here they are now, still standing, in spite of their own shoddy efforts.

It's starting to induce cold sweats and flashbacks to Portugal 20 years ago, when Greece managed to bore their way to the title by sending the rest of Europe to sleep on their way to glory in Lisbon.

Yet it can be argued that Southgate and his sleep-inducing squad are causing even more of an affront to the game, given the abject manner in which they have been going about their business over the last four weeks.

Yes, the Greeks may have stunk the place out in 2004 but they were punching so far above their weight that it was still possible to marvel at the sheer bloody-mindedness and tactical stuffiness of it all.

That side was welded into a team which proved capable of rebuffing all comers. They beat Portugal - including prime Cristiano Ronaldo - in the opening match, before drawing with Spain and sending Raul and Co back across the border in the group stages.

They took down Zinedine Zidane's French side in the quarter-finals and in doing so became the first nation in history to defeat both the hosts and the defending champions in the same tournament.

And they brought a rampaging Czech Republic's four-game tournament winning streak to a shuddering halt in the semis by grinding out another 1-0 win.