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Coach of the Greek national football team Fernando Santos has announced the composition of the representative team that will participate in the final phase of the World Cup (from 12 June to 13 July).

Greece will participate in the championship Group C, in which it will compete with Colombia, Ivory Coast and Japan.

The members of the Greek team are as follows:

Goalkeepers: Orestis Karnezis (Granada), Panagiotis Glikos (PAOK), Stefanos Kapino (Panathinaikos)
Defenders: Kostas Manolas (Olympiakos), Jose Holebas (Olympiakos), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund), George Dsavelas (PAOK), Lucas Vidra (Levante), Vassilis Torosidis (Roma), Vangelis Moras (Verona)
Middlefielders: Kostas Katsouranis (PAOK), Alexandros Tsiolis (Kaizerispor), Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos), Andreas Samaris (Olympiakos), Giorgos Karagounis (Fulham), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Bologna), Panagiotis Kone (Bologna), Panagiotis Tahtsidis (Torino)
Forwards: Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK), Fanis Gekas (Koniaspor), Giorgos Samaras (Celtic), Yiannis Fetfatsidis (Genoa), Kostas Mitroglou (Fulham).

Greece’s matches:

14 June - against Colombia
20 June - against Japan
24 June - against Côte d'Ivoire
 
Fernando Santos’ criteria  

One of the first questions to Fernando Santos was about the criteria for his final choice and about the condition of Kostas Mitroglou.

"The only selection criterion was to select players who I think are ready, in terms of playing ability and physical condition. These two things make me feel confident."

"Regarding Mitroglou, I followed very closely his last match with Fulham to see how he moves. He is in good condition but do not forget that we can make changes by 2 June if necessary."

Santos about Moras

"The players have been called up for Greece’s sake, not for mine. The selection I have made makes me feel confident in terms of the two areas that I have mentioned. Moras meets these criteria."

Santos about Dimitris Siovas (Olympiakos)

"I expected to see Siovas in the friendly matches between Olympiakos and Panionios and Livadiakos but he did not enter them even for a minute. This is because if I had the opportunity to at least see him in action, as I did with Mitroglou when I watched only him, not Fulham, I would have had an idea and opinion of the player. When one of the first questions to me was if I knew the final composition of 30 people, I said I did not, having in mind namely Siovas. Let me clarify that it cost me a lot to not include in the team players who helped us on the way to the Mundial such as Sotiris Ninis (PAOK), Kostas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern) or Siovas."

Santos about the players who do not cover only one position on the field

"We have players to cover the attack, 3-6-7-6. Moreover, we have players who can cover more than one position."

Santos about goalkeepers

Was the selection of goalkeepers easier this time?

"The truth is that the issue relating to goalkeepers is more complicated because I think the goalkeeper should know the team very well and should have a very good and strong connection with the defenders. Currently I have three goalkeepers who meet this requirement. Yes, this year the selection was easier than in 2012."

Santos about Panagiotis Tatsidis and Andreas Samaris

"I feel very confident with all players. Tatsidis plays with his left foot and such a player is difficult to find. Samaris can help, I have no hesitation, and even if they have to play, I think they are prepared. I feel quite confident if something happened and I had to include in the team one of the other 7 players complementing the main 30 players."

Finally, Santos about the opponents of the Greek national team in Group C

"Now we are entering, fully prepared, in a very difficult group. I was able to watch the matches of our opponents and I know their strong points. I was surprised by the team of Japan, a team in every sense of the word."