New to the Greek national side since the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Panagiotis Kone has benefited by leaving his homeland for Italy and carving out a useful career for himself in Serie A. Although relegated in his debut campaign with Brescia Calcio, he has remained in the top flight, spending the 2011/12 season on loan at Bologna FC.

• Born in the Albanian capital of Tirana, he moved to Greece at the age of two and started out with Olympiacos FC before eventually settling at rivals AEK Athens FC − after a brief spell in France at RC Lens.

• Used chiefly as a substitute for AEK during his first two seasons, he scored on his second European outing, against FC Salzburg in the first round of the 2007/08 UEFA Cup; also won frequent call-ups during this time for the Greek Under-21 side.

• Unable to command a regular place at AEK, he left for Iraklis FC and spent two years with the Thessaloniki club before trying his luck in Italy.

• Scored his first goal for Brescia on 26 September 2010, against AS Bari, and received his first senior cap for Greece two months later, in a Vienna friendly against Austria; made just a couple of late substitute appearances in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying.

• Suffered relegation with Brescia but had done enough to warrant an extended Serie A stay, joining Bologna on loan for the entire 2011/12 campaign.