Greece squad named for Caltex Socceroos friendlies

The Caltex Socceroos will face a strong Greek outfit in next month’s Dodoni Series after Greece announced their squad for the two friendly games.

Greek coach Michael Skibbe has selected an initial 31-man squad, which will be trimmed prior to the matches in Sydney (June 4) and Melbourne (June 7).

And the former European champions look like bringing all their big guns Down Under for the first clash between the two nations in a decade.

Caltex Socceroos squad named for England friendly

Fresh faces named for Caltex Socceroos' England clash

Headlining the squad are players like Benfica duo Kostas Mitroglou and Andreas Samaris, Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Roma’s Vasilis Torosidis.

Greece star Vasilis Torosidis in action against Portugal in a friendly in 2014.

The squad also includes 12 players that play in the Greek Super League.

There are four players who are team-mates of young Aussie Terry Antonis at Paok, including Stelios Kitsiou, Giorgos Tzavellas, Alexandros Tziolis and Dimitris Pelkas.

Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou, whose side takes on England a week before the Greece matches, will name his squad for the back-to-back friendlies next week.

The last time Greece came to Australia was prior to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with the Socceroos prevailing 1-0 in front of 95,000 fans at the MCG with a goal from Josip Skoko.

Greek squad:

Goalkeepers: Orestis Karnezis (Udinese), Stefanos Kapino (Olympiakos)

Defenders: Loukas Vyntra (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Stelios Kitsiou (Paok), Vangelis Moras (Verona), Michaalis Boukouvalas (Iraklis), Marios Economou (Bologna), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund), Dimitris Siovas (Olympiakos), Kostas Stafylidis (FC Augsburg), Giorgos Tzavellas (Paok), Vasilis Torosidis (Roma), Jose Holebas (Watford)

Midfielders: Andreas Samaris (Benfica), Alexandros Tziolis (Paok), Panagiotis Kone (Fiorentina), Giannis Maniatis (Standard Liege), Petros Mantalos (AEK), Dimitris Pelkas (Paok), Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Genoa), Giannis Fetfatzidis (Al-Ahli), Kostas Fortounis (Olympiakos)

Forwards: Kostas Mitroglou (Benfica), Christos Aravidis (AEK), Apostolos Vellios (Iraklis), Giannis Gianniotas (Apoel), Dimitris Diamantakos (Karlsruher SC), Nikos Karelis (Racing Genk), Anastasios Bakasetas (Panionios), Thanassis Papazoglou (KV Kortrigk), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Sampdoria)

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