While Greek and German football players battled it out on the Euro 2012 pitch in Poland, a similar game between ancient Greek philosophers and German thinkers was playing out on the streets of Athens.

Activists and actors from Greece and Germany dressed up as Plato, Aristotle and Nietzsche in a spoof football game inspired by a sketch from Monty Python.

The match, which took place in one of Athen's central squares, was goaless apart from Karl Marx scoring an own goal.

One German activist taking part in the game said: "We think today is not about nationalism, and we are actually not very interested in football. I don't know if one could see it maybe, it should be something like an economical, political, philosophical football game."

The game was intended to symbolise the need for a more unified Europe.

Despite the message for unity, on the Euro 2012 pitch Germany thrashed Greece with four goals to two, rubbing salt in the wounds of a nation reeling from a financial crisis which many blame on Berlin.