Cyprus national football team
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| Nickname | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Association | Cyprus Football Association | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Angelos Anastasiadis (2004-) |
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| Most caps | Pambos Pittas (82) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Michalis Konstantinou (24) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | CYP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 73 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 58 (February 1999) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 113 (March 2005) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 92 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Elo ranking | 68 (2000) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First international Cyprus 1 - 1 Israel  (Nicosia, Cyprus; November 13, 1960) |
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Largest win Cyprus 5 - 0 Andorra  (Limassol, Cyprus; November 15, 2000) |
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Worst defeat West Germany 12 - 0 Cyprus (Essen, Germany; May 21, 1969) |
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The Cyprus national football team is the national football team of Cyprus and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. It is one of the weakest members of UEFA, having never made the finals of any major international tournament.
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[edit] History
In their first international friendly, the Cyprus national team tied 3-3 with Israel in Tel Aviv on 23 July 1949, a year after becoming a member of the world governing body FIFA. In November 1960, following independence from British rule, Cyprus took part in their first official game, a 1-1 draw against Israel in the first leg of a qualifying tie for the 1962 FIFA World Cup. The return leg ended in a 6-1 defeat.
UEFA membership followed in 1962, and the next year was even more momentous as Cyprus won their first international - beating Greece 3-1 on 27 November in a friendly, and that was followed by another victory against Lebanon 2 years later when Cyprus won that particular encounter 2-0 in a friendly.
On the 17th February 1968, however, Cyprus made history when the Cypriots defeated Switzerland 2-1 in a European Championship Qualifier in Nicosia to mark the island's first ever official victory.
In 1974, the national team enjoyed one of their most famous victories when a team of part-timers beat a Northern Ireland side featuring legendary goalkeeper Pat Jennings, 1-0 in Nicosia. Cyprus managed in 1989 to bring a 1-1 draw against France to knock the French out of the World Cup chase. Despite other similar triumphs on home soil, Cyprus had to wait until 1992 to record a first away win - 2-0 in the Faroe Islands.
Results in qualifying tournaments have also improved considerably in recent times. Cyprus drew 1-1 with holders Denmark and claimed seven points in their qualification campaign for 1996 European Football Championship. Four years later, they missed out on a place at 2000 European Football Championship by a solitary point after victories against Spain and Israel, 3-2. The Spain's defeat signalled the end of Javier Clemente's time as Spanish coach and made the world do a double-take.
On 7th October 2006, Cyprus called a major upset when they beat a severely weakened Republic of Ireland 5-2 at home with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambides each scoring two goals and Michalis Garpozis scoring one. They later caused another surprise by holding World Cup semi-finalists Germany to a 1-1 draw at home on the 15th November 2006.
On the 7th October the Cypriot squad had debuted their new Diadora national kit. It is worth noting that the new white kit displays part of the map of Cyprus (orange/yellow) from the shoulder to the sleeve with a green line running down the middle which emphasises the continuing division of the island following the Turkish invasion of 1974.
[edit] Home stadium
Cyprus plays their home matches at New GSP Stadium, in Nicosia.
The Cyprus team played its home matches at different venues all around the country; Until 1974, Cyprus used for home venue the Old GSP Stadium in Nicosia, while sometimes the stadiums in Famagusta were used. Since then, the team played their home matches on different venues, while in 1990s, the national stadium in Limassol was usually used. That changed in 1999, with the creation of the New GSP Stadium in Nicosia. For World Cup 2006 qualifications, Cyprus used only the GSP Stadium, because it is the only stadium in Cyprus which satisfies the UEFA criteria. Sometimes plays in other towns of Cyprus but only for friendlies.
[edit] World Cup record
[edit] European Championship record
[edit] Managers
- Argyrios Gavalas 1960-1967
- Pambos Avraamidis 1968-1969
- Ray Wood 1970-1971
- Sima Milovanov 1972
- Pambos Avraamidis 1972-1974
- Panikos Iakovou 1974
- Pambos Avraamidis 1975
- Kostas Talianos 1976
- Panikos Krystalis 1976-1977
- Andreas Lazaridis 1977
- Kostas Talianos 1978-1982
- Bazile Spasov 1982-1984
- Panikos Iakovou 1984-1987
- Takis Charalambous 1987
- Panikos Ioakovou 1988-1991
- Andreas Michailidis 1991-1996
- Stavros Papadopoulos 1997
- Panikos Georgiou 1997-1999
- Stavros Papadopoulos 1999-2001
- Takis Charalambous 2001
- Momčilo Vukotić 2001-2004
- Aggelos Anastasiadis 2004-
[edit] Cyprus Squad
- Goalkeepers
| Name | Club |
|---|---|
| Michalis Morfis |  APOEL FC |
| Antonis Georgallides | AC Omonia |
- Defenders
| Name | Club |
|---|---|
| Loukas Louka | Anorthosis Famagusta |
| Lambros Lambrou | Anorthosis Famagusta |
| Stelios Okkarides | APOEL FC |
| Antreas Konstantinou | AEK Larnaca FC |
| Demetris Daskalakis | APOEL FC |
| Marios Ilia | APOEL FC |
| Alexis Garpozis | Skoda Xanthi |
| Elias Charalambous | PAOK FC |
- Midfielders
| Name | Club |
|---|---|
| Constantinos Charalmbides | PAOK FC |
| Marinos Satsias | APOEL FC |
| Costas Kaiafas | AC Omonia |
| Lefteris Eleftheriou | Enosis Neon Paralimni |
| Charis Nikolaou | AEK Larnaca FC |
| Simos Krassas | Apollon Kalamarias |
| Constantinos Makrides | APOEL FC |
- Strikers
| Name | Club |
|---|---|
| Michalis Konstantinou | Olympiacos |
| Giannis Okkas | Olympiacos |
| Giasemakis Giasemi | PAOK FC |
| Efstathios Aloneftis | AEL 1964 |
| Giorgos Nikolaou | Olympiakos Nicosia |
[edit] External links
- RSSSF archive of results 1949-
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
- RSSSF archive of coaches 1929-
- (English) (Greek) Cyprus Football E-Group
- (English) (Greek) (Turkish) Cyprus Soccer E-Group
| Football in Cyprus | ||
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| Cyprus Football Association - National team - List of football clubs in Cyprus | ||
| Competitions: Cypriot First Division - Cyprus Cup - Cyprus FA Shield | ||
