Euro 2012: Panagiotis Kone dropped from Greece squad (original) (raw)

Greece boss Fernando Santos has dropped Panagiotis Kone from his Euro 2012 squad.

The on-loan Bologna midfielder was sent off after he hit out at an opponent in stoppage time during Greece's 1-1 draw with Slovenia on Saturday in Austria.

Monaco midfielder Alexandros Tziolis also misses out as Santos cut his squad from 25 players to 23.

Celtic striker Georgios Samaras kept his place despite just one goal in eight qualifying games for his country.

Samaras is likely to partner Anikos Lymberopoulos in attack with the AEK Athens striker included after his seven league goals in Greece this season.

FC Kaiserslautern winger Kostas Fortounis, 19, has also been named in the final 23-man squad after impressing in training in what was the only other real surprise.

"We've had problems developing our attacks. We need to keep possession more and be patient," Santos explained after their draw with Slovenia.

"What happened with Kone is a shame. Sometimes in the heat of the match we lose our minds."

Greece qualified for Euro 2012 after remaining undefeated in 10 games with seven victories ensuring they finished top of their group and above Croatia.

Santos' side face Armenia in a friendly on Thursday before travelling to Poland.

Goalkeepers: Costas Chalkias (PAOK), Michalis Sifakis (Aris), Alexandros Tzorvas (Palermo).

Defenders: Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiakos), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Werder Bremen), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Jose Holebas (Olympiakos), Stelios Malezas (PAOK), Giorgos Tzavelas (Monaco), Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Schalke).

Midfielders: Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Costas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos), Giorgos Fotakis (PAOK), Costas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern), Yiannis Fetfatzidis (Olympiakos), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Grigoris Makos (AEK Athens).

Forwards: Georgios Samaras (Celtic), Dimitris Salpigidis (PAOK), Costas Mitroglou (Atromitos), Nikos Lymberopoulos (AEK Athens), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor).