Jose Holebas

Olympiakos secured a third-place finish in its Champions League group to drop into the last 32 of the Europa League despite a 2-0 home loss to Porto on Wednesday.

The Greek soccer federation on Friday insisted that international defender Jose Holebas had been dropped from team training in Austria because of injury and not for any other reason.

Media reports out of Italy said that the 30-year-old player had trained normally with his Roma squad after departing from Austria on Tuesday.

Greece coach Claudio Ranieri has been forced to make two more changes to his squad for Friday's Euro 2016 qualifer against the Faroe Islands due to injuries.

Greece defender Jose Holebas has been ruled out of European Championship qualifiers against Finland and Northern Ireland after picking up a groin injury in a weekend Serie A match.

The 30-year-old left winger, a World Cup standout for Greece this year, has been replaced by Ψostas Giannoulis of Olympiakos.

New Greece coach Claudio Ranieri announced Wednesday a 24-man squad for the first Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania at home on September 7.

Earning a first time call up were Olympiakos 21-year-old striker Dimitris Diamantakos and Levante's 29-year-old defender Nikos Karabelas.

Ranieri left out six players who helped Greece make it to the World Cup last 16.

Greece has reached the knock-out stages of the World Cup for the first time ever as an injury-time penalty by Giorgos Samaras gave Greece a dramatic 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast to set up a clash with Costa Rica in the round of 16.

By George Georgakopoulos

No beautiful horizon lies ahead for Greece after its performance at Belo Horizonte on Saturday and its 3-0 loss to Colombia in its opening game for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, as besides its defeat the national team was disappointing in many ways.

 Concern over injury to Sokratis Papastathopoulos

By George Georgakopoulos

Greece managed a goalless draw in Portugal in its first World Cup warm-up game on Saturday, although its performance at the Estadio Nacional in Lisbon left much to be desired both in defense and in attack.

By George Georgakopoulos