Mitroglou makes preliminary Greece squad

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Striker Kostas Mitroglou has been included on Greece’s preliminary World Cup squad despite his troubled move to relegated Premier League team Fulham, while injured-plagued defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos is not on the roster.

Greece’s soccer association released the names of the 30-player squad Wednesday. It plans to announce the final 23-man team Monday.

The 26-year-old Mitroglou sent Greece to the World Cup, scoring three goals for a 4-2 aggregate win over Romania in the playoffs, but struggled after his move to London in January.

Greece faces Colombia, Japan and Ivory Coast in Group C at the World Cup.

Coach Fernando Santos also called up two players from Panathinaikos, which recovered from a rough stretch to win the Greek Cup, picking goalkeeper Stefanos Kapino and forward Nikos Karelis.

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Squad:

Goalkeepers: Orestis Karnezis (Granada), Alexandros Tzorvas (Apollon Smyrni), Stefanos Kapino (Panathinaikos), Panagiotis Glykos (PAOK)

Defenders: Vassilis Torosidis (Roma), Loukas Vyntra (Levante), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Borussia Dortmund), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos), Jose Holebas (Olympiakos), Vangelis Moras (Hellas Verona), Giorgos Tzavellas (PAOK), Costas Manolas (Olympiakos), Nikos Karabelas (Levante)

Midfielders: Giorgos Karagounis (Fulham), Costas Katsouranis (PAOK), Alexandros Tziolis (Kayserispor), Yiannis Fetfatzidis (Genoa), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Bologna), Panagiotis Kone (Bologna), Costas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern), Panagiotis Tachtsidis (Torino), Andreas Samaris (Olympiakos)

Forwards: Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK), Georgios Samaras (Celtic), Fanis Gekas (Konyaspor), Kostas Mitroglou (Fulham), Dimitris Papadopoulos (Atromitos), Stefanos Athanasiadis (PAOK), Nikos Karelis (Panathinaikos)

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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