Karagounis and Katsouranis are no longer the energetic duo that helped Greece conquer Europe in 2004. They are now 36 and 34 years old respectively. They have 231 caps between them and counting. The time now seems more ripe than ever for these two to step aside and call it a day. Karagounis is now a squad member at Fulham, even though Santos insists on keeping the head strong captain more thoroughly involved. Katsouranis, meanwhile, is moonlighting for Greece as a midfielder, although his primary vocation is PAOK center-back. Both are undoubtedly showing signs of slowing down, yet Santos and his staff are refusing to relinquish either one from the starting eleven. Santos, afterall, has a tendency to rely on older players. At Panathinaikos it was Warzycha, then nearing his 40th birthday, who spared Santos' blushes with an extra-time double against Bulgarian side Litex Lovech in the early rounds of the UEFA cup. For a team that only months prior was beating the likes of Barcelona, Schalke, and Arsenal, it certainly raised a lot of questions and Santos was out the back door no sooner than he had entered the front. Warzycha is not alone of course. There is Karagounis for Greece, Lyberopoulos for AEK, and Garcia for PAOK. There was always one senior, respected member of the squad to whom Santos won over in his bid to keep the locker room. It's worth recalling that Santos began his tenure as coach of Greece against a stream of open rebellion. Amanatidis fired the first salvo against Rehhagel prior to the 2010 World Cup finals and the tempest that brew there and then had swept on and into Santos' ship, taking Gekas and Kyrgiakos , both clubmate's of Amanatidis during their spells at Frankfurt, into voluntary exile. Gekas would return, ingratiating himself to Santos, once his club career took a hobbling and he found himself unwanted at Frankfurt while the club sought immediate promotion from Germany's second division. Other reasons also explain why Karagounis and Katsouranis carry on with Greece. Both relish the opportunity to play for their country. Both love to play in soccer's biggest showpieces (why else does Karagounis play in the EPL?). Both want to make big names for themselves as idols of Greek soccer. Both feel that they have something to offer, even if it isn't what it used to be. And that's the problem. Karagounis is worn out. Against Latvia, as Greece drew 1-1 in Riga, Karagounis failed to properly cover an active Verpakovskis. Onrushing and now unmarked, Verpakovskis slid the ball through to a teammate and Latvia took the lead. Against Poland on the opening day of EURO 2012, Karagounis looked weary by the time he took his penalty. Much later in the game, on a set-piece, he attempted to place the ball into the area, where a lively Kyriakos had found space, but the ball never did beat the first Polish defender. Against the Czechs, Karagounis barely mustered the energy to run and Greece looked completely void in the midfield. Later, against the Russians, Karagounis had to be subbed out. He was cranky, out of breath, and was one desperate lunge away from getting a second yellow. Katsouranis, too, has looked out of depth. His challenges are more error ridden than ever before, he always looks to be one step behind his opponent, and his play has become so conservative that he has bogged Greece down to a snail's pace. When speaking of Katsouranis, lazy tends to be the right word to describe him. Despite these failings, he has produced some great assists, not least of which against Latvia on two separate occasions, against Slovakia, and more recently against Austria, a super 50 yard pass that cut right through an unsuspecting Austrian defense. It was a world class pass not even Ronaldo or Messi have been shown to produce. But despite these glamorous plays, one cannot help but think that either Ninis or Tachtsidis could have provided the very same measure of quality if given the proper opportunity to grow. And that is where this dilemma leads us. Moving away from Karagounis and Katsouranis means looking towards a new generation, one that we will need to look to very soon. It means taking Greece to that next step, to it's newer a silver generation.