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By Barney Spender
ATHENS, May 19 (Reuters) - Teenage midfielder Sotiris Ninis made a strong case for inclusion in Greece's Euro 2008 squad by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Cyprus in a friendly in Patras on Monday.
Ninis, who made his debut for Panathinaikos two years ago at the age of 16, produced a confident 45 minutes before being substituted at halftime.
The highlight was certainly his goal after just five minutes of his international debut, latching on to a through ball from Dimitris Salpigidis and sweeping it under Cyprus goalkeeper Antonis Georgallides.
With at least one place still open in coach Otto Rehhagel's squad for the tournament in Austria and Switzerland next month, Ninis may have done enough to earn a call-up.
Panionios midfielder Grigorios Makos and PAOK Salonika striker Lazaros Christodoulopoulos were also handed their first caps as substitutes as Rehhagel made up for the absence of many regulars to field a largely experimental team.
Costas Katsouranis scored the second goal from the penalty spot in the 59th minute for a foul on Georgos Karagounis.
Greece open the defence of their European title against Sweden in Salzburg in Group D on June 10. They also face Russia and Spain.
