Red card costs Panagiotis Kone his place in Greece’s Euro 2012 squad

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Giorgos Samaras is likely to lead Greece's attack.SNS Group

Two midfielders have missed out on a place in Greece’s 23-man Euro 2012 squad.

The two unlucky men to be axed are Alexandros Tziolis and Panagiotis Kone after manager Fernando Santos cut his group for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

Kone, who plays for Serie A side Bologna, didn’t do himself any favours after receiving a red card in Saturday’s friendly with Slovenia.

And with the country blessed with several midfielders, defensive-minded player Tziolis was deemed surplus to requirements.

Celtic’s Giorgos Samaras remains the highest-profile striker in Greece’s ranks.

Santos given his younger players a chance with young Kaiserslautern ace Costas Fortounis staying with the group alongside fellow Bundesliga man Kyriakos Papadopoulos of Schalke.

The Greeks have one friendly left against Armenia on Thursday before kicking off the competition against co-hosts Poland in the tournament’s opening game on June 8.

Greece Euro 2012 squad:

Goalkeeepers: Costas Chalkias (PAOK Salonica), Michalis Sifakis (Aris Salonica), Alexis Tzorvas (Palermo).

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

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

Forwards: Giorgos Samaras (Celtic), Dimitris Salpigidis (PAOK Salonica), Costas Mitroglou (Olympiakos Pireaus), Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK Athens), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor).

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