Injuries force more changes on Greece
Greece coach Claudio Ranieri has been forced to make two more changes to his squad for Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifer against the Faroe Islands due to injuries.
There is a first call-up for 21-year-old Panionios attacking midfielder Dimitris Kolovos, replacing PAOK striker Dimitris Salpingidis, while Levante defender Loukas Vyntra, 33, returns in place of Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
Dortmund announced its center back broke his fibula in the 1-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.
He was injured in the 82nd minute as he fouled Andre Hahn and picked up his fifth yellow card of the season into the bargain.
On Saturday, Ranieri replaced injured midfielder Costas Fortounis of Olympiakos with Panathinaikos’ Thanasis Dinas and Panionios defender Christos Tasoulis stepped in for Roma’s Jose Holebas.
Greece, the 2004 European champion, is second from bottom of Group F with just one point from three games.
Revised squad:
Goalkeepers: Orestis Karnezis (Udinese/ITA), Panagiotis Glykos (PAOK), Stefanos Kapino (Mainz 05/GER)
Defenders: Costas Manolas, Vasilis Torosidis (both Roma/ITA), Vangelis Moras (Verona/ITA), Loukas Vyntra (Levante/ESP), Avraam Papadopoulos (Trabzonspor/TUR), Nikos Karabelas (Levante/ESP), Michalis Bakakis (AEK Athens), Christos Tasoulis (Panionios)
Midfielders: Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos), Alexandros Tziolis (PAOK), Andreas Samaris (Benfica/POR), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Verona/ITA), Panagiotis Kone (Udinese/ITA), Petros Mantalos (AEK Athens), Thanasis Dinas (Panathinaikos), Dimitris Kolovos (Panionios)
Forwards: Stefanos Athanasiadis (PAOK), Charalampos Mavrias (Sunderland/ENG), Nikos Karelis (Panathinaikos), Fanis Gekas (Akhisar Belediyespor/TUR)
[AFP]
