Stoltidis declines Greece honour
Monday, February 4, 2008
Article summary
Ieroklis Stoltidis has pulled out of the Greece squad for this week's matches in Cyprus – despite the "honour" of being selected to represent his country once again.
Article body
Three days after his surprise inclusion in the Greece squad for this week's fixtures against Czech Republic and Finland, Ieroklis Stoltidis has withdrawn from Otto Rehhagel's party – despite the "honour" of his international recognition.
'Fervent supporter'
The 33-year-old Olympiacos CFP defensive midfielder, who won the last of his six caps before Rehhagel's arrival in August 2001, was called up for the first time by the German on Friday. He duly joined up with the squad to fly to Cyprus on Monday morning but left soon afterwards, following a brief chat with Rehhagel. "I would like to thank the Hellenic Football Federation, and Otto Rehhagel, for the honour bestowed upon me with this call-up – I was, am and will forever be a fervent supporter of the national team," Stoltidis said. "I hope everyone achieves their goal at EURO 2008™.
Age factor
"As I explained to Mr Rehhagel: had I accepted the call-up, I would not have been honest with the players or the fans who want to see me play for Greece," he added in a statement on the Olympiacos website. "I would have been adding international matches to my already heavy schedule with Olympiacos in the domestic league and cup and the UEFA Champions League. I'm no longer at an age where I can perform on all those fronts at the required level. Apart from my gratitude to the fans for their support, I want to assure them that, had this call come earlier in my career, when I was capable of competing on all fronts at a high level, I would have put myself at the disposal of the coach without hesitation."
Summer task
Rehhagel is therefore left with 29 players for this week's games, which include an unofficial friendly against Czech Republic in Nicosia on Tuesday and an official match against Finland the next day. The European champions are in Group D at this summer's final tournament in Austria and Switzerland, facing fixtures against Sweden, Spain and Russia. Olympiacos, meanwhile, play Chelsea FC in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round on 19 February and 5 March.
