Greece coach Otto Rehhagel is without an entire 11-man team of key players for Monday’s UFWC clash with Cyprus. Olympiakos stars Antonis Nikopolidis, Vassilios Torosidis, Paraskevas Antzas and Christos Patsatzoglou – who will all play in this weekend’s Greek cup final – plus Georgios Samaras, Angelos Basinas, Georgios Seitaridis, Fanis Gekas, Ioannis Amanatidis, Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Angelos Charisteas are all missing.

Instead, Rehhagel will turn to 18-year-old Panathinaikos prodigy Sotiris Ninis, plus Panionios midfielder Grigorios Makos, PAOK striker Lazaros Christodoulopoulos and OFI goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas. Also included is Stelios, this week released by Bolton Wanderers.

THe match will take place at the Panpeloponisiako Stadium in Patras.

Greece squad: Chalkias (Aris Salonika), Tzorvas; Spyropoulos, Vintra, Goumas (all Panathinaikos) Dellas, Papastathopoulos (both AEK Athens), Melissis (PAOK); Karagounis, Alexandros Tziolis, Sotiris Ninis (all Panathinaikos), Stelios (unattached), Katsouranis (Benfica), Makos (Panionios GSS); Salpigidis (Panathinaikos), Liberopoulos, Christodoulopoulos (PAOK)

Match Previews Cyprus, Greece

PORTUGAL 1-2 GREECE Dusseldorf, Germany, 26/03/2008
Karagounis 32, 59, Gomes 75

Two carbon-copy free kicks from ‘Gorgeous’ Girogos Karagounis gave Euro and UFWC champions Greece victory over Portugal in this friendly match on neutral turf.

Greece, who beat Portugal twice at Euro 2004, dominated the game and scored in the 32nd and 59th minutes.

Nuno Gomes pulled a goal back for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side, who were without Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Deco.

But Portugal, who were without Traianos Dellas, held out for a deserved victory.

Portugal’s Gomes commented, ‘We couldn’t handle Greece in the first half. They’re a very experienced team, with a number of veteran players who know how to control a game.’

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel is set to extend his contract with national team until 2012.
Portugal: Ricardo, Paulo Ferreira, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Caneira, Fernando Meira, Carlos Martins, Miguel Veloso, Ricardo Quaresma, Simao, Nuno Gomes
Used substitutes: Joao Moutinho, Bruno Alves, Miguel, Hugo Almeida, Jorge Ribeiro, Raul Meireles

Greece: Nikopolidis, Patzatzoglou, Antzas, Kyrgiakos, Torosidis, Basinas, Karagounis, Katsouranis, Amanatidis, Charisteas, Gekas
Used substitutes: Giannakopoulos, Seitaridis, Samaras, Goumas, Salpingidis

Match Reports Greece, Portugal

Portugal vs Greece, Dusseldorf, 26/03/08

Current UFWC Champions Greece will play Portugal at the neutral venue of Dusseldorf’s LTU Arena in a friendly match on 26 March. The game will be a replay of the 2004 Euro final – Greece actually defeated Portugal twice during that tournament and, of course, became Euro Champions. Portugal lost 3-1 to Italy last month, and coach Luiz Felipe ‘Big Phil’ Scolari says, ‘It’s good for us to face the world champions and now the European title holders. We can get a better idea of what state we are in and what we have to improve.’

Scolari includes Huelva midfielder Carlos Martins in his squad, while Greek coach Otto Rehhagel recalls Atletico Madrid defender Giuourkas Seitaridis.

Portugal squad: Ricardo Pereira (Real Betis), Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon), Miguel Monteiro (Valencia), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Fernando Meira (VfB Stuttgart), Bruno Alves (Porto), Pepe (Real Madrid), Marco Caneira (Valencia), Raul Meirelos (Porto), Miguel Veloso (Sporting Lisbon), Joao Moutinho (Sporting Lisbon), Jorge Ribeiro (Boavista), Carlos Martins (Recreativo Huelva), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Ricardo Quaresma (Porto), Nuno Gomes (Benfica), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Nani (Manchester United)

Greece (preliminary) squad: Giourkas Seitaridis (Atletico Madrid), Angelos Basinas (Mallorca), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton Wanderers), Georgos Samaras (Celtic), Fanis Gekas (Bayer Leverkusen), Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Eintracht Frankfurt), Giannis Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt), Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg), Costas Katsouranis (Benfica)

Match Previews Greece, Portugal