Charisteas seeks yet another Euro high

By Nicolas Gaudichet

Salzburg, Austria

June 9: Angelos Charisteas joined other more mythical Greek heroes when he headed the winning goal at the Euro 2004 final against hosts Portugal — but since then he has sunk careerwise into the equivalent of Hades.

The 28-year-old could well be described as much-travelled, which is a step up from being called a journeyman striker but four clubs since that heady night in Lisbon tells its own tale.

It all looked so different for Charisteas as he appeared to have shown his then Bundesliga club Werder Bremen that he could produce more than the paltry four goals he had scored for them the season leading up to the European championships.

However, it mattered not a jot to Bremen, who made it pretty clear that he was not considered to be first choice and thus after a summer of highs he was plunged into uncertainty and Greece’s German coach Otto Rehhagel — a former Bremen coach — advised him to look for another team.

If he thought that 5 million euros had allowed him to enter the Elysian fields with a chance to really prove himself at club level, then he was quickly disabused of that notion as then coach Henk Ten Cate placed him fifth in the list behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ryan Babel, Markus Rosenberg and a certain Rydell Poepon. — AFP

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Kubica’s win consoles Poles

Warsaw, June 9: Robert Kubica’s breakthrough victory at the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday is consoling Poles after their football team lost 0-2 to Germany in their opening Euro 2008 match in Austria.

"Kubica’s vanquished Germany," read a bright red front-page headline on the Super Express tabloid daily, adding "A Pole’s gigantic success! Robert won in Montreal and proved he’s the world’s best race driver."

The Polska daily’s front page echoes the sentiment with "Kubica’s great triumph — the first victory of a Pole in Formula 1 to dry the tears after the defeat of our footballers against Germany."

Photos of the victorious Kubica instead of Poland’s defeated squad cover the front pages of several newspapers. "He’ll be the world champion! It’s certain. Will it happen this season?" Polska asks.

"His battle with Ferrari and McLaren will sweeten everything for us. Even the Poles’ defeat," Polska says.

While football has long been Poland’s national sport, Formula 1 racing has gained popularity principally due to Kubica’s stellar success. The top-selling liberal Gazeta Wyborcza recalls how Kubica’s victory came on a race track where he emerged unscathed from a spectacular crash last year.

"Only great sportsmen are capable of making this kind of a comeback," Gazeta Wyborcza wrote.

"Robert feels comfortable in the world (of Formula 1) — like a serious contender not a playboy," Robert’s father Artur told the Dziennik daily. "Never has a Pole stepped so high on the podium of Formula 1," Dziennik said. — AFP