| Greece lose pair to injury
Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has lost in-form striker Dimitris Papadopoulos and midfielder Panagiotis Lagos for Saturdays Euro 2008 qualifier against Norway due to injuries. The pair were replaced in the Euro 2004 winners squad on Tuesday by two defenders, Christos Patsatzoglou and Michalis Kapsis, who have been out of action for months. Patsatzoglou, a former regular with the national team, only recently returned to club football after consecutive operations sidelined him for more than two years.
Kapsis has not played a match for his club Olympiakos in months because of nagging injuries. Norway are top of Group C after two wins, while Greece edged Moldova 1-0 in their only match so far. Looking ahead to the game in Athens Karaiskaki stadium, midfielder Kostas Katsouranis told reporters: We have to go into this game and show from the first minute that we are determined to win. This is an extremely crucial match.
The group also features Hungary, Turkey, Bosnia and Malta. |