Greece drop Charisteas for Malta, Hungary matches

Reuters

Greece coach Otto Rehhagel has dropped Nuremburg striker Angelos Charisteas for the last two games of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

The European champions have already secured their place in next year's finals in Austria and Switzerland but Rehhagel has resisted the temptation to try out new players.

Greece need one point from their last two games against Malta at home on Saturday and away to Hungary on November 21 to be sure of top spot in Group C.

The squad

Goalkeepers: Nikopolidis (Oly-mpiakos), Chalkias (Aris).

Defenders: Seitaridis (A. Madrid), Kapsis (APOEL), Kyrgiakos (E. Frankfurt), Goumas, Vintra (both Panathinaikos), Dellas (AEK Athens), Torosidis, Patsatzoglou (both Olympiakos), Spiropoulos (Panionios).

Midfielders: Giannakopoulos (Bolton), Basinas (Mallorca), Tsiolis, Karagounis (both Panathinaikos), Katsouranis (Benfica).

Forwards: Salpigidis (Panathinaikos), Gekas (Leverkusen), Amanatidis (E. Frankfurt), Samaras (Man. City), Liberopoulos (AEK).