European champions Greece began their build up to the defence of their crown with a 2-0 friendly win over Cyrpus in Patras.

Greek coach Otto Rehhagel handed a debut to teenager Sotiris Ninis and he responded in great fashion with a goal just five minutes in.

The Panathinaikos midfielder took a pass from club colleague Dimitris Salpiggidis before slotting past Cypriot keeper Antonis Georgallides.

Greece dominated proceedings but they could not find a second until the hour mark when Kostas Katsouranis fired home from the penalty spot after Giorgos Karagounis was tripped by defender Marios Ilia.

The win was the eighth in succession for Greece who began their Euro 2008 campaign in just three weeks time against Sweden.

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has named a 24-man squad for Saturday’s friendly against Hungary in Budapest.

Place for Papastathopoulos
The German has included AEK Athens FC centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos, 19, in a group that will have to be trimmed by one for the finals. Only 17 players were selected for Monday’s victory over Cyprus because of club commitments, but Rehhagel has been able to increase that number for the second of three UEFA EURO 2008™ warm-up matches.

Goalscoring debut
Greece beat Cyprus 2-0 with Panathinaikos FC winger Sotiris Ninis marking his debut with the opening goal after five minutes. Of the 18-year-old, Rehhagel said: "Ninis is a very young player who became the youngest goalscorer for Greece. We wanted to check him out for the future, for after the EURO, and to give him a lift. We have done the same with other youngsters such as Papastathopoulos and Lazaros Christodoulopoulos."

U19 role
Following his successful senior bow, Ninis will join his Greece Under-19 team-mates who are preparing for three UEFA European U19 Championship Elite round qualifiers, starting on Saturday against Moldova.

Greece squad
Goalkeepers: Antonios Nikopolidis (Olympiacos CFP), Konstantinos Chalkias (Aris Thessaloniki FC), Alexandros Tzorvas (OFI Crete FC).

Defenders: Sotirios Kyrgiakos (Eintracht Frankfurt), Giourkas Seitaridis (Club Atlético de Madrid), Traianos Dellas (AEK Athens FC), Loukas Vintra (Panathinaikos FC), Nikolaos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos FC), Ioannis Goumas (Panathinaikos FC), Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiacos CFP), Christos Patsatzoglou (Olympiacos CFP), Paraskevas Antzas (Olympiacos CFP), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (AEK Athens FC).

Midfielders: Angelos Basinas (RCD Mallorca), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton Wanderers FC), Georgios Karagounis (Panathinaikos FC), Alexandros Tziolis (Panathinaikos FC), Konstantinos Katsouranis (SL Benfica).

Forwards: Dimitrios Salpingidis (Panathinaikos FC), Nikolaos Liberopoulos (AEK Athens FC), Theofanis Gekas (Bayer 04 Leverkusen), Georgios Samaras (Celtic FC), Ioannis Amanatidis (Eintracht Frankfurt), Angelos Charisteas (1. FC Nürnberg).

Panathinaikos youngster has finally got the call from Greece Coach National Team coach, Otto Rehagel. The Greek coach announced today which players were included in Greece’s roster for their friendly with Cyprus on Monday (May 19th). It came as a bit of a surprise, a pleasant one at that, for many Greek fans and the 18 year-old himself.

Limited to only a handful of players, Rehagel’s squad includes many inexperienced players. Usual call ups, including Theofanis Gekas, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Giourkas Seitairidis, and Aggelos Charisteas, were left out of the squad set to face the Cypriots in Patras, Greece. Additional absences include, Olympiacos quartet, Vassilis Torosidis, Antonis Nikopolidis, Paraskevas Antzas, and Christos Patsazoglou, whome will be active in the Greek Cup Final this Saturday. Aris has reached the finals as well but it is uncertain if Kostas Chalkias will get the start for the Thessaloniki club; no matter the case he is expected to be in Patras on Monday. The squad chosen is rather youthful compared to its usual core, but it fields many of Greece’s rising stars with many who have reached that success on this level already.

Here is Greece’S SQUAD FOR EURO 2008

Goalkeepers: Konstantinos Chalkias (Aris Thessaloniki FC), Alexandros Tzorvas (OFI Crete FC).

Defenders: Nikolaos Spyropoulos (Panathinaikos FC), Loukas Vintra (Panathinaikos FC), Traianos Dellas (AEK Athens FC), Ioannis Goumas (Panathinaikos FC), Christos Melissis (PAOK FC), Socratis Papastathopoulos (AEK Athens FC).

Midfielders: Georgios Karagounis (Panathinaikos FC), Stelios Giannakopoulos (Bolton Wanderers FC), Alexandros Tziolis (Panathinaikos FC), Konstantinos Katsouranis (SL Benfica), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos FC), Grigorios Makos (Panionios GSS).

Forwards: Dimitrios Salpingidis (Panathinaikos FC), Nikolaos Lyberopoulos (AEK Athens FC), Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (PAOK FC).