his 100th appearance in a Greece shirt. A 1–0 win over Slovakia in Bratislava certainly stole the headlines, but Katsouranis became the fourth Greece player to make a century of appearances for Greece just days after teammate Giorgos Karagounis set the sport record for all-over appearances. Katsouranis's exceptional leader characteristics along with experience and the huge influence on the pitch saw him stand-in as captain for Greece at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, with the team's regular captain, the veteran Karagounis, restricted to substitute appearances at the age of 37. On 19 June 2014, Katsouranis became the first Greek player in World Cup history to be shown a red card. He was dismissed in the 38th minute of the group match against Japan for committing two bookable offences. After the draw for UEFA Euro 2016, Katsouranis stated that he was confident of reaching the finals due to a lack of "powerhouses" in their qualifying group. Katsouranis believes Greece face a tricky task to reach the tournament, which will be held in France, but believes the side are well prepared for the challenge. "It's a good draw for us but we have to prove that on the pitch as well," he said. "I believe we have what it takes to be among the final 24 teams. There are no powerhouses in our group, but there are dangerous rivals." However, Greece would finish bottom of their qualifying group, winning just once, on the final matchday. Style of play Katsouranis could play in various positions, characteristic shared with Ruud Gullit as a result of the combination of his technique, speed and strength. He has been described as "a reasonable goal threat despite being notionally a midfielder". A fine passer of the ball, Katsouranis was also strong in the air and has excellent positioning defensively. However, it was his natural attacking instinct that makes him such a valuable footballer, being able to ghost into the box with regularity despite usually playing in a deep-lying midfield role. Over his club career and at times for the national team, he proved to be a natural finisher, scoring a variety of goals and crucial ones at that. His ability to offer an attacking threat without compromising his defensive duties means he is the embodiment of a box-to-box midfielder. Career statistics Club International goals Scores and results list Greece's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each