Greece gunslinger Mitroglou ready to fire in Brazil

By Karolos Grohmann

Greece will rely on Kostas Mitroglou to fire them into the knockout stage of the World Cup finals and after a slow start to his international career, and now at Fulham, the striker wants to show his true worth in Brazil.

Known as 'Mitrogoal' and 'Pistolero' (gunslinger) by Greek fans for his gun-toting goal celebrations as well as his strike rate, the forward left Olympiakos Piraeus for Fulham in January for 12 million pounds.

He was bought by the relegated Premier League club before current boss Felix Magath arrived at Fulham in February and the German was somewhat unimpressed with the previously reliable goal-scorer.

Since signing, Mitroglou has made just one start and one substitute appearance for Fulham and was not even training with the first team because of concerns over a nagging knee injury and his fitness levels.

Magath said in early April: "If you buy a player like Mitroglou, you are not just thinking about having him for a few weeks but for the long term, so it is not a mistake.

"He is a very good player, who has scored for his country and in the Champions League. We hope he will be fit soon but you never know."

The 26-year-old was born in Greece but grew up in Germany after his family moved there when he was a boy.

He had a spell as a youngster at MSV Duisburg before moving to Borussia Moenchengladbach, where his flair for goals gained him a spot in the first team as a teenager. After a season he moved back to Greece with Olympiakos.

As well as an impressive strike rate, Mitroglou also showed maturity in leading the Greek champions' attack and it will be fascinating to see how he eventually adapts to life in the second tier of English football if he gets the chance.

Somewhat...