Greece Coach Names First Squad For Finland, Estonia Games

Muhammad Rameez Published November 09, 2018 | 11:44 PM

New Greece coach Angelos Anastasiadis on Friday named a 23-man squad for upcoming Nations League fixtures with Finland and Estonia.

Athens, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Nov, 2018 ) :New Greece coach Angelos Anastasiadis on Friday named a 23-man squad for upcoming Nations League fixtures with Finland and Estonia.

Anastasiadis, who replaced sacked German coach Michael Skibbe last month, included three newcomers and two returnees in his first squad announcement.

German-born goalkeeper Odisseas Vlachodimos, 24, who plays for Portuguese side Benfica, earns his first selection alongside Olympiakos defenders Giannis Masouras, 22 and Leonardo Koutris, 23.

Earlier this week Vlachodimos was granted permission to join the Greek squad by FIFA after having played for all of Germany's youth teams.

Joining the team after a long absence are 30-year-old Leganes defender Dimitris Siovas and 29-year-old Benfica defender Andreas Samaris.

Among the notable absentees were Napoli goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis, Alanyaspor defender Giorgos Tzavellas, Al-Fayha midfielder Alexandros Tziolis and Olympiakos forward Lazaros Christodoulopoulos.

Greece host Finland at Athens Olympic Stadium on November 15 and Estonia three days later.

Squad Goalkeepers: Vasilis Barkas (AEK Athens), Alexandros Paschalakis (PAOK Thessaloniki), Odisseas Vlachodimos (Benfica/POR) Defenders: Kostas Manolas (Roma/ITA), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Arsenal/ENG), Dimitris Siovas (Leganes/ESP), Vasilis Lambropoulos and Michalis Bakakis (both AEK Athens), Vasilis Torosidis, Leonardo Koutris and Giannis Masouras (all Olympiakos), Dimitris Giannoulis (Atromitos Athens), Andreas Samaris (Benfica/POR)Midfielders: Andreas Bouchalakis (Olympiakos), Dimitris Kourbelis (Panathinaikos), Zeca (FC Copenhagen/DEN), Petros Mantalos (AEK Athens), Dimitris Pelkas (PAOK Thessaloniki)Forwards: Anastasios Bakasetas (AEK Athens), Kostas Fortounis (Olympiakos), Kostas Mitroglou (Marseille/FRA), Efthimis Koulouris and Nikos Karelis (both PAOK Thessaloniki)