Greeks come bearing gifts in Brazil to group opponents

To put that in some perspective, Bayern’s Austrian left back David Alaba and two Israeli strikers all netted more, with neither nation coming close to reaching Brazil. For all the travails of Mitroglou, his international record of eight in 29 caps looks accomplished compared to Celtic forward Georgios Samaras.

Former Manchester City flop Samaras has the same number of goals for his country, but has done so in two-and-a-half times as many appearances. From a wide left berth, he has netted on just five occasions during another Scottish Premiership title win.

This calamitous couple are mainstays of Greece’s front three, but Santos simply cannot count on Mitroglou or Samaras, a 200/1 shot to be World Cup top scorer, to get goals for him at the World Cup right now. It is instead to older heads that he must look.

Dimitris Salpingidis (150/1 to be leading marksman), who captains PAOK, got eight during the regular domestic season and three for Greece en route to Brazil and plays for his country down the right flank. Theofanis Gekas (200/1), another 30-something, also chipped in with a couple in qualifying, and is their most prolific frontman that could be on the roster.

Sotiris Ninis, a flop at Parma that is trying to rebuild his club career on loan at PAOK, and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, who has hardly set Serie A alight with Bologna, are the backup options in advanced midfield and wide areas.

Moving away from haranguing the hapless Greek frontline, their engine room has remained the same for a decade now. National skipper Giorgos Karagounis and fellow centurion Kostas Katsouranis are relics from the squad that surprisingly triumphed at Euro 2004.

There comes a point, however, when the value of experience becomes diminished because it hampers progress. Karagounis and Katsouranis have a combined age of 71, so legs may be missing from midfield. Alexandros Tziolis and Giannis Maniatis, yet another Olympiakos player, are steady alternatives, which Santos has sometimes used to mix things up.

And finally, we come to the jewel in the Greek laurel wreath crown – their back five. Central defence is their strongest area, starting with veteran Loukas Vyntra, who is a regular with La Liga side Levante, while Avraam Papadopoulos, captain of Olympiakos, has now won four consecutive domestic titles.

Club teammate Kostas Manolas, meanwhile, helped the champions of Greece keep a clean sheet in their Champions League last 16 first leg victory over Manchester United. Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund) has been a fixture in the Bundesliga this term and Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Schalke) is looking his two-year injury nightmare behind him.

Santos’ bravest call in qualifying was dropping PAOK left back Nikos Spyropoulos in favour of Olympiakos counterpart Jose Holebas. The latter is a great outlet going forward, but a defensive liability – a fact underlined by David Moyes’ comeback when the Red Devils won 3-0 at Old Trafford.

Roma right back Vasilis Torosidis has been in and out at the Stadio Olimpico this term, sometimes playing on the other flank, but a regular in his favoured position throughout qualification. His seven international goals from defence make him another outlet.

Maniatis and Giorgos Tzavellas provide cover for the full back berths. Granada goalie Orestis Karnezis looks to have nailed down the Greece number one jersey, but expect Michalis Sifakis, who took that over during Euro 2012, and Alexandros Tzorvas to be the backup options.

Greece face a tough-looking opener in Brazil against Colombia on June 14th. Their best hope is to pray that predatory opposing forward Radamel Falcao fails to fully recover from a serious knee injury. Should he struggle or fail to make the World Cup fit, however, odds of 5/1 on a Greek upset are certainly tempting.

A 30-man squad has been announced by Greece ahead of the finals:

Goalkeepers: Alexandros Tzorvas (Apollon Smyrnis), Michalis Sifakis (Atromitos), Orestis Karnezis (Granada), Panaglotis Glykos (PAOK), Stefanos Kapino (Panathinaikos).

Defenders: Avraam Papadopoulos, Dimitris Siovas, Kostas Manolas, Giannis Maniatis, Jose Holebas (all Olympiakos), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund), Giorgios Tzavellas (PAOK), Loukas Vyntra (Levante), Vasilis Torosidis (Roma).

Midfielders: Alexandros Tziolis (Kayserispor), Andreas Samaris (Olympiakos), Kostas Katsouranis (PAOK), Giorgos Karagounis (Fulham), Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Torino), Sotiris Ninis (PAOK), Ioannis Fetfatzidis (Genoa), Kostas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Bologna) Panagiotis Kone (Bologna).

Forwards: Dimitris Papadopoulos (Atromitos), Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK), Giorgios Samaras (Celtic), Kostas Mitroglou (Fulham), Theofanis Gekas (Konyaspor).