Santos names experienced Greece squad
Greece coach Fernando Santos leaned on experience in announcing his provisional 25-man Euro 2012 squad on Thursday.
The 57-year-old Portuguese included seasoned veterans such as Panathinaikos midfielder Giorgos Karagounis, 35, AEK Athens forward Nikos Liberopoulos, 36 and 37-year-old PAOK Salonica goalkeeper Costas Chalkias.
There were also places for young talent, however, with Olympiakos Pireaus' exciting winger Yiannis Fetfatzidis, Schalke 04 defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Kaiserslautern midfielder Costas Fortounis named.
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.
Costas Mitroglou of Olympiakos, who spent the season on loan with Atromitos and finished the season with 16 goals, was included among the attackers along with Liberopoulos, Giorgos Samaras, Dimitris Salpigidis and Fanis Gekas.
Two players will be cut following a training camp in Austria before the final squad of 23 travels to Poland for the opening game against the hosts on June 8.
They also face Czech Republic and Russia in Group A.
Greece squad:
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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), Alexandros Tziolis (Monaco), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Panayiotis Kone (Bologna).
Forwards: Giorgos Samaras (Celtic), Dimitris Salpigidis (PAOK Salonica), Costas Mitroglou (Olympiakos Pireaus), Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK Athens), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor).