Otto Rehhagel Announces Provisional 30-Man Greece Squad For 2010 World Cup
Otto Rehhagel has announced a typically conservative provisional squad for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa, consisting of 30 names, 25 of which will take part in the team’s preparation at the Swiss municipality of Bad Ragaz on May 17.
In terms of surprise call-ups, as was tooted by one reader here on the Greece World Cup blog AEK Athens prodigy Kosta Manolas given a place as part of a train-on squad of sorts, ready for a call-up in the event of injury or other to one of the 25. Aris midfielder Sakis Prittas has also been handed the opportunity to earn his international debut on the biggest stage of all in what is something of a feel-good story considering his age (31).
The inclusion of Grigoris Makos at the expense of Pantelis Kafes is a bizarre one but typical in a regrettable way of the Rehhagel reign: the former is younger, so I’ll give the German manager credit for (presumably) looking toward the future (or perhaps more accurately, sticking to players he knows best) in choosing a player who has had a poor season over a captain who has lead a club in turmoil superbly on the pitch and offers limitless experience at his age. The choice is particularly painful given the conspicuous weakness the national team has suffered in midfield of late.
In any case the selections probably won’t have a great deal of impact on the strategy and personnel used in South Africa, as has been pointed out in the previous entry of this blog, so in that regard there’s probably no reason to get worked up about certain talents being on the periphery (temperamental Olympiakos striker Konstantinos Mitroglou is part of the cluster of five back-up players).
Rehhagel-hatters – yes, they exist, despite the fact that his reign has transformed the Greek national team – will use this latest squad to attack a man who’s main criticism stems from a reluctance to change but it is that stability and single-mindedness upon which consecutive qualifications for major tournaments – and the nation’s second only appearance at a World Cup – has been built. A little faith wouldn’t go astray and really, are the players he ignored of a sufficient quality to make the difference as Greece looks to sneak out of the group stages? I highly doubt it.
Goalkeepers: Michalis Sifakis (Aris Salonika), Alexandros Tzorvas (Panathinaikos), Kostas Chalkias
Defenders: Giourkas Seitaridis (Panathinaikos), Loukas Vyntra (Panathinaikos), Evangelos Moras (Bologna), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Genoa), Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Liverpool), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Vasilis Torosidis (Olympiakos), Nikos Spyropoulos (Panathinaikos), Stelios Malezas (PAOK), Giorgos Tzavellas (Panionios)
Midfielders: Kostas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos), Alexandros Tziolis (Siena), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Christos Patsatzoglou (Omonia), Grigoris Makos (AEK Athens), Sakis Prittas (Aris Salonika)
Forwards: Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg), Dimitris Salpiggidis (Panathinaikos), Pantelis Kapetanos (Steaua Bucharest), Theofanis Gekas (Hertha Berlin), Georgios Samaras (Celtic)
Add-on players: Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Panathinaikos), Kostas Manolas (AEK Athens), Konstantinos Mitroglou (Olympiakos), Giorgos Galitsios (Olympiakos), Stergos Marinos (Panathinaikos)
FOR TV LINK
Millions of fans are waiting to watch FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 match live from there pc.No problem you are welcome to watch here FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 Live Online Tv at pc.
Quality Characteristics Live Soccer :
» High quality live streams!
» Multiple Matches covered simultaneously!
» Coverage available worldwide!
» Fast registration and instant activation!
» Working on every operating system!
» Easy to use service!
» 24/7 E-mail assistance!
»This is a one-time charge with no additional costs. You will never be re-billed
» High quality live streams!
» Multiple Matches covered simultaneously!
» Coverage available worldwide!
» Fast registration and instant activation!
» Working on every operating system!
» Easy to use service!
» 24/7 E-mail assistance!
»This is a one-time charge with no additional costs. You will never be re-billed