Katsouranis Dismisses Suggestions Of Rift In dressing Room

Greece vice-captain Kostas Katsouranis has dismissed suggestions that there is a major rift inside the dressing room, which first started with the fallout – in front of the public – from his club teammate Giannis Maniatis. Both players are regarded as the most experienced in the Greek national team, but they came to blows in the recent Greek cup semi-final. The 34-year-old Katsouranis had to be separated from his teammates and he also received a red card for coming to blows with the Olympiakos star Maniatis. Katsouranis plays for Greek outfit PAOK.

Katsouranis has accepted that it was a mistake on his part. He has since apologised for the incident, but it is thought to have created a division within the Greek camp ahead of the World Cup 2014. The players will be looking to send off manager Fernando Santos in the best possible manner. Santos recently announced that he will be stepping down from the post after the World Cup 2014. This will be coming up against Portugal in a pre-tournament friendly match. They are expected to be one of the teams fighting to qualify for the knockout stages, as their group contains teams of equal strength.

The Europeans will be coming up against the likes of Colombia, Ivory Coast, and Japan. Their first match of the tournament will be against Colombia. “We have talked about it a lot and I think it was a mistake from all aspects. As vice captain of the team and one of the most senior players who has been in the squad since Euro 2004, I think I have a large responsibility, I was in the wrong and I have explained this to Giannis many times. We need to stick together. Sometimes you lose control and I think that since making my national team debut in 2003 I’ve never had such an issue,” said the vice-captain.