Greece hope to make Portugal sacrificial lamb

Portugal will have huge home support to supplement the skills of Figo and Co, but I am not sure that''s enough to stop captain Theo Zagorakis''s team in Sunday''s Euro 2004 final: The story of this tournament, anyway, has been all Greek, if you know what I mean.
Not a first-match defeat (against Portugal, it may be added) Neither the reputation of better-known sides nor a mini rebellion over wages against their own football federation has stopped the progress of the Greeks.They have traipsed past more talented sides — including an upset over Portugal in the first match of the tournament itself — riding their luck, but giving little away.
I read somewhere that Portugal''s Brazilian coach Luize Felipe Scolari is consulting a psychiatrist, Regina Brandao based in Sau Paulo, for advice on certain practices to be done by him and his side before the final. But for ritualism, there is nothing to beat the Greeks, as is well-known. During the ancient Olympics, a pig would be sacrificed to Zeus and a black ram to Pelops for good luck.
What better recipe for the success of the impending Olympic Games at Athens than a sacrifice of Portugal in the Euro Cup final. Given the topsy-turvy nature of the tournament, it might be too.
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The women''s final at Wimbledon this year has been a glam slam of sorts, with new pin-up girl Maria Sharapova matching serve and volley with reigning No. 1 and hotbod Serena Williams. But beyond the appeal of their apparent beauty and talent, lies a fascinating story of how these two girls have made it to the top in extenuating circumstances.
Serena, only 23, is a black from a middle-class background, and if that was not enough constraint already, also from a broken home. But her mother was a strong-willed lady who brought up her three daughters on the virtues of sacrifice, hard work and faith. And her father has dogged every step, every stroke played by her (and her sisters).
Serena lived under the shadow of her sister, Venus, who hit the headlines and Grand Slam titles earlier, but has come into her own in the last three years, becoming world No. 1 by outclassing every one else. Some critics reckon she could be the best of al time if she retains her fitness and interest.
Sharapova, the demure and dazzling 17-year-old Russian who has become the delight of the paparazzi, migrated to the US when she was only seven to actualise her potential at tennis. Her mother was forced to stay behind, her father had only $700 to risk on his child''s future, Sharapova did not know English and, as often happens in such circumstances, she was the butt of ridicule by the other kids at Nick Bollitieri''s tennis school.
In ten years, she is testing the pinnacle of the sport.
As players and personalities, Serena and Sharapova are a study in contrast, but there is a thread that runs common to both. It speaks of a strong value system that appreciates the sacrifices made by family, of the need to vindicate trust, it explains the raging fire in the belly.
Of such stuff are champions made.