Team Greece in ruins amid injury crisis

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The Greek players are united as ever ahead of the Czech Republic clash but Fernando Santos must alter his back line due to injuries and suspensions

n the spacious indoor-arena-turned-media-center of Legionowo, at the outskirts of Warsaw, the mood was light. It was Saturday morning, the day after the Euro 2012 opener, and the Greek internationals were relaxing from the previous night’s game against Poland.

The 1-1 draw was not the ideal result, but not a bad one either. The reporters shadowing the team were still taking vividly about the game, when Kostas Katsouranis took the stand for the usual daily press conference. Before anyone had asked a question, the Panathinaikos midfielder rushed to say:
“We’d rather lose the game, than see Avraam get injured like this. Honestly, a thousand times we’d prefer it.”

His reference was for Avraam Papadopoulos. The Olympiakos defender had suffered a torn ligament that would rule him out for the next seven months and his team-mates were clearly more upset with his bad luck than thinking about their upcoming game with Czech Republic. Of course, there is no player that will not feel sorry for his team-mate, if something bad happens to him.

Yet, it’s something telling for the team that Avraam’s injury is still the number one talking point in the Greek camp. No other topic has been covered more.
Even referee Carlos Velasco Carballo’s calls, which many believe that deprived the Galanolefki from a glorious victory on the opening day.

“It’s something telling for the team that Avraam Papadopoulos’ injury is still the number one talking point in the Greek camp”

“We are like a family,” explained Sotiris Ninis, who too had sustained a ligament tear earlier this season. “That’s why we want Avraam to return back to us strong and healthy.” However, Papadopoulos’ injury has not just a mental affect on Greece.

When Fernando Santos names his line-up for Tuesday’s match with Czech Republic, he would have been forced to field a back line completely different from the one he planned to deploy months ahead of the tournament.

Apart from the 28-year-old ace, Greece have also lost Sokratis Papastathopoulos, via the harsh red card he saw against Poland, and as a result Kyriakos Papadopoulos is the only full-back left at Santos’ disposal.

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