Sokratis ruled out of Greek friendly

Jun 1, 2014 - 1:30 PM Greece defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos will miss his country's next World Cup warm-up friendly with African champions Nigeria after suffering a biceps injury.

The 26-year-old Borussia Dortmund player - who has been capped 47 times and played at both the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 - had to go off during the first half of Saturday's 0-0 draw at Portugal.

Medical examinations have revealed the injury will keep him sidelined for several days, including when the team faces Nigeria in the United States on Wednesday.

The medical team expects Papastathopoulos - who was sent off in the opening game of the Euro 2012 finals - to be ready for the team's last warmup clash in the United States against Bolivia on June 6.

After the match with Bolivia, the Greek team heads for their base camp in Brazil at Aracaju.

Greece have never qualified for the knockout stages in their previous appearances at the finals but will fancy their chances as they have been drawn in Group C with Colombia, who are awaiting anxiously to see whether their start striker Radamel Falcao will be fit, Japan and the ageing but talented Ivory Coast.

Greece open their campaign against Colombia on June 14 in Belo Horizonte.

Source: AAP