Soccer Victory Ignites Greeks Before Election

Associated Press

Greek players celebrate their 1-0 win at the end of the Euro 2012 soccer championship Group A match between Greece and Russia in Warsaw, Poland on Saturday night.

Do politics and sports intersect? Greece's miraculous defeat of Russia in Europe's quadrennial soccer tournament on Saturday night offers one of the most interesting test cases in years.

Greeks haven't had much to cheer for lately. Their economy is in free-fall. Their future in the euro zone is in doubt. Talk of hoarding food, gasoline and cash is rampant.

At times like this, soccer would seem like a distraction. Instead, on Saturday night, Greece's national team captivated the country -- and the continent -- by pulling off a 1-0 upset victory against the mighty Russians. The nail-biting win means Greece will advance to the quarter-final round of the Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine later this coming week -- a stunning outcome for a team and a country widely dismissed as at best second-tier in one of the world's premier soccer competitions.

Photos: Greece Upsets Russia

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Associated Press

Greek players celebrated their win.

Russia, meanwhile, will go home.

The victory ignited celebrations throughout central Athens. Joyous Greeks poured into the streets, some toting the country's blue-and-white flag.

Hours later, Greeks will be filing into voting booths in a national election that many experts say could determine the fate of the 17-country euro zone.The question is whether the national victory on the soccer pitch will sway the too-close-to-call elections.

It wouldn't be the first time that an international sporting event had outsized political repercussions. In February 1980, the U.S. hockey team stunned a much-favored Soviet Union to win gold in the Lake Placid, N.Y., Olympics. That victory -- later dubbed the "Miracle on Ice" -- came to be regarded as a Cold War turning point.

It's not clear how Greece's surprise win on Saturday will play in the Sunday ballot.

In an Athens bar on Saturday night, reveling Greeks were divided when asked about the likely electoral impact of their team's win against the favored Russian squad.

Some thought it would help Syriza, the far-left conglomeration of underdogs that has pitched itself as the fresh-start party of hope.

Others argued that the win in a pan-European tournament could lend credence to the New Democracy party, which emphasizes Greece's place in the European family.

Either way, Saturday's upset sets the stage for a match next week that will be dripping in political symbolism. Greece appears likely to face off against Germany in the tournament's quarter-final round. In the epic drama that is the euro-zone crisis, Greece for the past three years has played the role of nettlesome child. Germany has been the unforgiving parent.

(Greece came in second place in its group, and it's slated to square off against the top squad in the tournament's Group B. Germany currently leads the group, but the final rankings won't be known until Sunday night, after Germany plays Denmark in Ukraine.)

In a tournament that's rich in past and present geopolitical rivalries, the Greece vs. Germany showdown would likely top the list.

Write to David Enrich at david.enrich@wsj.com and Charles Forelle at charles.forelle@wsj.com

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