Santos opts for experience in Greece squad
Greece manager Fernando Santos opted for the players he knows best and trusts in his provisional selection of 25 players ahead of the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine next month, announced on Thursday in Athens.
The Portuguese coach has opted, for instance, for experienced PAOK keeper Costas Chalkias instead of Orestis Karnezis of Panathinaikos, saying that he intended to stick to the players who know the national team well and can carry the responsibility of representing the country in such an important tournament.
The squad, however, does include striker Costas Mitroglou of Olympiakos who spent the season on loan with Atromitos and is seen as one of the best options for the team?s attack behind center forward Fanis Gekas.
Two out of the 25 will be eliminated after the training camp in Austria so that the final squad of 23 is formed to travel to Poland for the opening game against the hosts on June 8.
The full provisional selection is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Costas Chalkias, Michalis Sifakis, Alexis Tzorvas.
Defenders: Avraam Papadopoulos, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Vassilis Torosidis, Jose Holebas, Stelios Malezas, Yiannis Maniatis, Giorgos Tzavellas, Kyriakos Papadopoulos.
Midfielders: Yiannis Fetfatzidis, Grigoris Makos, Costas Katsouranis, Giorgos Fotakis, Costas Fortounis, Giorgos Karagounis, Alexandros Tziolis, Sotiris Ninis, Panayiotis Kone.
Forwards: Giorgos Samaras, Dimitris Salpigidis, Costas Mitroglou, Nikos Liberopoulos, Fanis Gekas.
