Tsiartas to step up
Friday, June 18, 2004
Article summary
An injury to Stylianos Giannakopoulos has put Vassilios Tsiartas in line for his first start of the finals.
Article body
Double blow
Giannakopoulos pulled a calf muscle in the 1-1 draw with Spain and coach Otto Rehhagel will also be without key midfield player Georgios Karagounis, who is suspended after receiving his second yellow card of the tournament in the same game.
Tsiartas to start
Tsiartas, who plays for AEK Athens FC, came on as a substitute in the second half against Spain and set up Angelos Charisteas for the equaliser with a clever ball behind the Spanish defence. He appeared seven times in qualifying, scoring once.
Back problem
Greece need a point against Russia to ensure a quarter-final place but defender Mihalis Kapsis, who has had an outstanding campaign so far, said: "We expect a tough 90 minutes." Meanwhile, his partner in central defence, Traianos Dellas, trained on his own yesterday because of a back problem but he is expected to be fit to face Russia.
