Pelkas gets nod for Greece squad
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| FIFA.com |
Interim Greece coach Kostas Tsanas called up midfielder Dimitris Pelkas for the first time for next week's final UEFA EURO 2016 qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Hungary.
Greece travel to Group F leaders Northern Ireland on 8 October and host Hungary on 11 October with 21-year-old PAOK midfielder Pelkas in the squad for the first time.
"All players dream of someday representing their country and I am happy for this opportunity. It is an honour for me," Pelkas said.
Tsanas also recalled 26-year-old PAOK striker Stefanos Athanasiadis after an absence of nearly a year. The 2004 European champions are bottom of the group with three points from eight matches and have no chance of qualifying for next year's finals in France.
Greece squad
Goalkeepers: Orestis Karnezis (Udinese/ITA), Stefanos Kapino (Olympiacos), Marcos Vellidis (Giannina)
Defenders: Loukas Vyntras (Hapoel Tel Aviv/ISR), Vasilis Torosidis, Kostas Manolas (both Roma/ITA), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Bayer Leverkusen/GER), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Jose Holebas (Watford/ENG), Vangelis Moras (Verona/ITA), Kostas Stafylidis (Augsburg/GER)
Midfielders: Stelios Kitsiou, Alexandros Tziolis, Dimitris Pelkas (all PAOK), Andreas Samaris (Benfica/POR), Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Genoa/ITA), Panagiotis Kone (Udinese/ITA), Petros Mantalos (AEK), Kostas Fortounis (Olympiacos)
Forwards: Stefanos Athanasiadis (PAOK), Kostas Mitroglou (Benfica/POR), Nikos Karelis (Panathinaikos), Christos Aravidis (AEK)