The Greece national team manager Fernando Santos has recently named his 21 man squad that will be playing in a friendly match against Norway next week.

One of the surprises in this new squad announced by the national team manager his absence of the captain Giorgos Karagounis. Giorgos Karagounis was part of the Greece national team that played at the Euro 2012. In fact, he was the captain of the national team and he scored a goal that turned out to be the winner against Russia. Rather than include the veteran into the squad, Santos has decided to include the 18-year-old midfielder Charis Mavrias.

This comes as a major surprise ahead of the match with Norway. However, it is quite clear that Fernando Santos is looking at his options when it comes to the players for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. It is highly unlikely that Giorgos Karagounis will be at his best at the 2014 FIFA World Cup due to his age. As a result, Santos needs to find a replacement for his veteran before the crucial World Cup qualifying matches begin. Once the Norway match gets over, Greece will be facing against the likes of Latvia and Lithuania in the two World Cup qualifying matches.

Even though they may sound extremely easy on paper, the Greece national team manager Fernando Santos is taking no prisoners when it comes to preparing for this match. He has said that he will be targeting a minimum of six points from these two matches. This will be first playing Latvia on Saturday, which is followed by the match against Lithuania on Wednesday. Giorgos Karagounis is one of the most experienced players within the team after having played 120 matches for the national team. The 35-year-old, though, is coming to the end of his glittering career.