Who is the youngest ever player to have represented Greece – and which players were in that Nivea advert? Find out here
This article is part of the Guardian's Euro 2012 Experts' Network, a co-operation between 16 of the best media organisations from the countries who have qualified for the finals in Poland and Ukraine. guardian.co.uk is running previews from two countries each day in the runup to the tournament kicking off on 8 June.
Dimitris 'Salpi' Salpigidis
Salpigidis may not score consistently but he is very valuable for the Greek team. He played in all 10 of the Euro 2012 qualifying matches and he scored the only goal against Ukraine, a strike that took Greece to the World Cup 2010 finals. In addition to that he also scored Greece's first ever World Cup goal. So if Fernando Santos needs an important goal, Salpi is his go-to man.
Salpingidis also featured in a song that was written for the Greek national team ahead of World Cup 2010. It had decent words (talking about the passion of football fans when they were kids and how football has changed). Here is the official video clip of "Goal". Salpingidis, meanwhile, is still facing a battle with PAOK fans because he left the club some years ago to join Panathinaikos (Salonica fanatics despise the capital and all it stands for). He has since returned to PAOK despite having better offers from other clubs but some hard-core fans never forgave him and were still booing him a few months ago.
Sotiris Ninis
Ninis scored a fantastic goal against Israel, leading Greece to a 1-0 win and effectively the top spot in their qualifying group. Unfortunately, he was injured in that very same match and was out for five months. Noteworthy fact: his first call-up came courtesy of Otto Rehhagel in May 2008. Ninis scored against Cyprus and became Greece's youngest ever scorer (18 years and 40 days).
Giorgos Karagounis
He was, in April, only five games away from equalling the record for matches played for Greece, held by Theodoros Zagorakis, the emblematic captain of the Euro 2004-winning team, who retired after 120 appearances. Karagounis made his debut on 30 August 1999 and has been a focal point of the Greek national team ever since.
Stefanos Kapino
On 15 November 2011, Greece faced Romania in a friendly match and lost 3-1. On that day, the goalkeeper Stefanos Kapino became the youngest player ever to wear the Greek jersey at an age of 17 years and eight months.
Michalis Sifakis
The goalkeeper, together with Makos, Christodoulopoulos and Athanassiadis, was in a Nivea advert in which they get massaged and test a woman's knowledge when it comes to football terminology
Fernando Santos
It was recently announced that Fernando Santos, Rehhagel's successor, has renewed his contract (a lavish renewal if the rumours are to be believed) and will be coaching the national team of Greece up until the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. And of course the Greek FA wanted to renew his contract: these days he is the proud holder of a record as his team went 17 games unbeaten (beating Rehhagel's record of 15 games), a run stretching back to a 1-0 win against Serbia in 2010, before losing to Romania in November 2011.
Stavros Drakoularakos and Elias Eftaxias work for sport24.gr
Click here to read the profile of Theofanis Gekas
And click here to read the tactical analysis of Greece Read More
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