Trust over talent for Greece’s Rehhagel

One glance at Greece’s roster for a midweek friendly with Denmark in Athens next week and it is clear that Otto Rehhagel is not yet ready to abandon his veteran core of players. After Vangelis Moras was a surprise inclusion in the pre-liminary squad list, featuring Greek players plying their trade abroad, Rehhagel stuck to a more familiar list for the remaining roster spots.

A very experienced core of players continue to hold their spots with the ‘Ethniki’, including Angelos Basinas who has since left AEK Athens to join English side Portsmouth FC.

Fellow midfielder Giorgos Karagounis joins the former AEK midfielder, as does Olympiacos midfielder Christos Patsatzoglou.

Evangelos Mantzios has missed out on call-up after returning to the squad against Italy. His Panathinaikos teammate, however, Dimitrios Salpigidis, has been named as the lone domestic striker.

In defense there isn’t much change to a regular back line presented by the Greeks, as Vasilis Torosidis leads a charge of domestic defenders which also include Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Nikos Spyropoulos.

Kostas Chalkias remains on the list of goalkeepers selected by Rehhagel, but the PAOK shot stopper is joined by Super League rival Alexandros Tzorvas. The Panathinaikos ‘keeper impressed in a 1-1 draw with Adriatic rivals Italy, and could potentially start against the Danes next Wednesday.

The German bench boss has passed on the likes of Greek youngsters Sotiris Ninis and Vasilis Koutsianikoulis, even though the pair were called up for a friendly with Italy back in November.

This will be Greece’s final test before meeting Group B rivals Israel for a back-to-back meeting with the second placed side in Group B.

Greece (Otto Rehhagel):

Goalkeepers — Konstantinos Chalkias (PAOK), Alexandros Tzorvas (Panathinaikos).

Defenders: Traianos Dellas (Anorthosis Famagusta), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Genoa), Loukas Vyntra (Panathinaikos), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiacos), Vasilis Torosidis (Olympiacos), Nikos Spyropoulos (Panathinaikos), Giourkas Seitaridis (Atletico Madrid), Sotiris Kyrgiakos (AEK Athens), Vangelis Moras (Bologna)

Midfielders: Kostas Katsouranis (Benfica), Alexandros Tziolis (Werder Bremen), Christos Patsatzoglou (Olympiacos), Angelos Basinas (Portsmouth), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos).

Strikers: Theofanis Gekas (Portsmouth), Nikos Lyberopoulos (Eintracht Frankfurt), Dimitrios Salpigidis (Panathinaikos), Angelos Charisteas (Bayer Leverkusen), Giorgos Samaras (Celtic).