Kone and Tziolis cut from Greece squad
Reuters - Tuesday 29 May 2012, 07:44
Midfielders Alexandros Tziolis
and Panagiotis Kone were cut from Greece's Euro 2012 squad on
Tuesday as coach Fernando Santos made his final 23-man selection
for the tournament which begins on June 8.
Kone's fate was sealed after the Bologna midfielder was
sent-off for violent conduct in Saturday's 1-1 friendly draw
against Slovenia, while Monaco's Tziolis did not make the cut
due to the ample defensive midfield cover Santos has at his
disposal.
Notable absentees from the squad were Panathinaikos
goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis, along with other Greens players
such as left-back Nikos Spiropoulos and right back Loukas
Vintra, while promising PAOK striker Stefanos Athanasiadis also
missed out.
However, exciting Olympiakos Pireaus' winger Yiannis
Fetfatzidis, Schalke 04 defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos and
19-year-old Kaiserslautern midfielder Costas Fortounis were all
retained.
Costas Mitroglou of Olympiakos, who spent the season on loan
with Atromitos and finished the season with 16 goals, was also
included among the attackers along with Nikos Liberopoulos,
Giorgos Samaras, Dimitris Salpigidis and Fanis Gekas.
Greece play Armenia in their final warm-up match on May 31
before facing co-hosts Poland in the tournament opener on June
8.
They also face Czech Republic and Russia in Group A.
Greece squad:
Goalkeeepers: Costas Chalkias (PAOK Salonica), Michalis
Sifakis (Aris Salonica), Alexis Tzorvas (Palermo).
Defenders: Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos Pireaus),
Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Werder Bremen), Vassilis Torosidis
(Olympiakos Pireaus), Jose Holebas (Olympiakos Pireaus), Stelios
Malezas (PAOK Salonica), Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos Pireaus),
Giorgos Tzavellas (Monaco), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Schalke).
Midfielders: Yiannis Fetfatzidis (Olympiakos Pireaus),
Grigoris Makos (AEK Athens), Costas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos),
Giorgos Fotakis (PAOK Salonica), Costas Fortounis
(Kaiserslautern), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Sotiris
Ninis (Panathinaikos)
Forwards: Giorgos Samaras (Celtic), Dimitris Salpigidis
(PAOK Salonica), Costas Mitroglou (Olympiakos Pireaus), Nikos
Liberopoulos (AEK Athens), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor).