Mitroglou retains place in Greece World Cup squad

Mitroglou signed for Fulham from Olympiacos in a big-money transfer in January after scoring 17 goals in all competitions for the Greek giants during the first half of the campaign.

There were high hopes that the 26-year-old could make a big impact as Fulham battled to stay in the Premier League, but his Craven Cottage career failed to take off.

Fitness issues limited Mitroglou to just three appearances for the London club as they slipped into the Championship, but that has not deterred Greece coach Fernando Santos.

Three of the initial seven forwards selected by Santos have been cut, with Dimitris Papadopoulos, Nikos Karelis and Stefanos Athanasiadis missing out. 

Avraam Papadopoulos drops out due to injury, while Nikolaos Karabelas, Alexandros Tzorvas and Kostas Fortounis were the others deemed surplus to requirements.

Greece have been drawn in Group C for the tournament in Brazil, alongside Colombia, Ivory Coast and Japan.

Squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Panagiotis Glykos (PAOK), Stefanos Kapino (Panathinaikos), Orestis Karnezis (Granada)

Defenders: Jose Holebas (Olympiacos), Giannis Maniatis (Olympiacos), Kostas Manolas (Olympiacos), Vangelis Moras (Verona), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund), Vasilis Torosidis (Roma), Giorgios Tzavellas (PAOK), Loukas Vyntra (Levante)

Midfielders: Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Bologna), Ioannis Fetfatzidis (Genoa), Giorgos Karagounis (Fulham), Kostas Katsouranis (PAOK), Panagiotis Kone (Bologna), Andreas Samaris (Olympiacos), Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Torino), Alexandros Tziolis (Kayserispor)

Forwards: Theofanis Gekas (Konyaspor), Kostas Mitroglou (Fulham), Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK), Giorgios Samaras (Celtic)