Fortounis included in final Greece squad
Monday, May 28, 2012
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Alexandros Tziolis and Panagiotis Kone are the players to miss out after Greece coach Fernando Santos announced his final 23-man party to take to UEFA EURO 2012.
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Greece coach Fernando Santos has announced his final squad for UEFA EURO 2012 after cutting down his initial 25-player selection to 23, with Alexandros Tziolis and Panagiotis Kone the players to miss out.
Tziolis, who started five matches in qualifying, has played just three times for AS Monaco FC since joining them in February and his lack of first-team action was a cause of concern for the Greece coach. When asked about the player after naming his provisional squad, Santos said: "We know that Tziolis hasn’t played enough this season. But that's why we take players along to the training camp, to check out their condition."
Midfielder Kone, on the other hand, has been a mainstay in Bologna FC's side this season, but Santos must have felt he had enough options in his position. One surprise name included is that of Kostas Fortounis. The 19-year-old 1. FC Kaiserslautern winger has just two caps to his name but impressed enough during training to persuade the Portuguese coach to include him.
Greece face Armenia on 31 May in Austria in their final friendly game before their UEFA EURO 2012 Group A opener against co-hosts Poland in Warsaw eight days later.
Greece squad
Goalkeepers: Kostas Chalkias (PAOK FC), Michalis Sifakis (Aris Thessaloniki FC), Alexandros Tzorvas (US Città di Palermo).
Defenders: Vassilis Torossidis (Olympiacos FC), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (FC Schalke 04), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (SV Werder Bremen), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiacos FC), José Holebas (Olympiacos FC), Giorgos Tzavellas (Eintracht Frankfurt), Stelios Malezas (PAOK FC).
Midfielders: Kostas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos FC), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos FC), Giannis Maniatis (Olympiacos FC), Giorgos Fotakis (PAOK FC), Grigoris Makos (AEK Athens FC), Giannis Fetfatzidis (Olympiacos FC), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos FC), Kostas Fortounis (1. FC Kaiserslautern).
Forwards: Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK FC), Giorgos Samaras (Celtic FC), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor), Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK Athens FC), Kostas Mitroglou (Atromitos FC).
