Versatile players and those with a bit of local knowledge have been picked to lead Greece into their third World Cup group stage.

Utility players, Loukas Vyntra and Costas Katsouranis have been singled out by coach Fernando Santos in his 23-man squad selection this week providing much needed versatility on the pitch.

“Vyntra and Katsouranis can also respond to the challenges of playing as central defenders,” said Santos, explaining why he has only chosen three central defenders.

“This enhances the cohesion between the team’s lines, instead of just calling up some more defenders.”

In the midfield, interchangeable players Andreas Samaris and Panayiotis Tachtsidis will also become useful to Santos.

The most famous of the lot, Kostas Mitroglou did make the final cut, while Celtic’s Giorgos Samaras and PAOK’s Dimitirs Salpingidis will make up the goal
scoring striking side.

Santos picked his 23 quite early for the World Cup coaches, preferring to make the best of training with the players. He will still have until June 3 to make changes if players don’t meet expectations or get injured.

Surprisingly, Stefanos Athanasiadis and defender Avraam Papadopoulos didn’t make the final cut, but might be the first ones to be called up if anything goes wrong.

One pick that did raise eyebrows was the inclusion of 33-year-old Manos Sergios.

Sergios is a part-time player at amateur team APE Antirriou in western Greece, who was born in Brazil to Greek parents.

He has played as a midfielder for a number of amateur clubs in Brazil and in Greece, and admitted he was taken aback by the Santos announcement.

“I still cannot believe it. When [Greece team manager Takis] Fyssas called me last night to inform me about me being invited to the national team, I was
sure he was having me on. I was actually at work and I almost passed out,” Sergios said this week.

The completely unknown part-timer was dubbed a “huge player” by Santos, with the Portuguese coach showing a rare smile on his face.

His local knowledge will be useful as the team trains in Brazil, but moreover, he will most likely become a media darling in the South American country. He’ll be able to promote the best of Greece while lapping up the chance to play on home soil.

Final squad:
Goalkeepers: Orestis Karnezis (Granada), Panayiotis Glykos (PAOK) and Stefanos Kapino (Panathinaikos)
Defenders: Costas Manolas, Jose Holebas (both Olympiakos), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund), Vangelis Moras (Verona), Giorgos Tzavellas (PAOK), Loukas Vyntra (Levante) and Vassilis Torosidis (Roma).
Midfielders: Alexandros Tziolis (Kayserispor), Andreas Samaris, Yiannis Maniatis (both Olympiakos), Costas Katsouranis (PAOK), Giorgos Karagounis (Fulham), Panayiotis Tachtsidis (Torino), Yiannis Fetfatzidis (Genoa), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos and Panayiotis Kone (both Bologna).
Strikers: Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK), Giorgos Samaras (Celtic), Kostas Mitroglou (Fulham) and Fanis Gekas (Konyaspor).
Greece will play a friendly against Portugal on May 31 and then participate in the ‘Road to Brazil’ international tournament in the United States, taking on Nigeria in Chester, Pennsylvania on 3 June before heading to New Jersey to play Bolivia.

Source: Kathimerini