Cyprus national football team
| Shirt badge/Association crest | |||
| Association | Cyprus Football Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach |  Angelos Anastasiadis (2004-) | ||
| Captain | Ioannis Okkas | ||
| Most caps | Pambos Pittas (82) | ||
| Top scorer | Michalis Konstantinou (23) | ||
| Home stadium | Neo GSP Stadium | ||
| FIFA code | CYP | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 68 | ||
| Highest | 58 (February 1999) | ||
| Lowest | 113 (March 2005) | ||
| First international | |||
 Cyprus 1 - 1 Israel  (Nicosia, Cyprus; November 13, 1960) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Cyprus 5 - 0 Andorra  (Limassol, Cyprus; November 15, 2000) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 West Germany 12 - 0 Cyprus (Essen, Germany; May 21, 1969) | |||
The Cyprus national football team is the national football team of Cyprus and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. They have previously been regarded as one of the weakest members of UEFA, having never made the finals of any major international tournament.
History
The Cyprus national teams first international was a friendly match on 23 July 1949, against Israel in Tel Aviv which ended in a 3-3 draw, one 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 match, 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. That was followed two years later by another victory when Cyprus beat Lebanon 2-0 in a friendly match.
On 17th February 1968 Cyprus made history when they won their first non-friendly match, a European Championship Qualifier in Nicosia, beating Switzerland 2-1.
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. In 1989 they drew 1-1 with France in World Cup qualifying match. A result which meant that the French did not qualify for the World Cup final stages. Despite other similar triumphs on home soil, Cyprus had to wait until 1992 to record their first away win, a 2-0 victory in the Faroe Islands.
Unfortunately, since partition of the island in 1974, Turkish Cypriot footballers have been under embargo and are unable to play matches with anyone, even friendly matches or matches with British Army personnel. This is despite the fact that four Turkish Cypriot clubs have been members of the Cyprus Football Association since 1940s. Recently Luton Town visited the island and were warned not to play a friendly match - they instead took off their shirts and played a training session alone. There are no Turkish Cypriot footballers playing in the national team. FIFA is not helping to solve this dilemma.
Results in qualifying tournaments have also improved considerably in recent times. In the qualifying stages for the 1996 UEFA European Championship, Cyprus drew 1-1 with holders Denmark, ending the campaign on seven points. Four years later, they missed out on a place in the 2000 European Football Championship by a solitary point. 3-2 victories against Spain and Israel and a 4-0 defeat of San Marino contributed to the team finishing on 12 points, just one point behind Israel and Austria, but two consecutive defeats, 8-0 away to Spain and 3-1 in Austria, meant the team finished in fourth place. Cyprus victory over Spain signalled the end of Javier Clemente's time as the Spanish manager.
On 7th October 2006, Cyprus caused a major upset beating the Republic of Ireland 5-2 at home with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambides each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis one goal. And on 15th November 2006 caused yet another surprise by holding the World Cup semi-finalists Germany to a 1-1 draw at home.
On 7th October 2006 the Cypriot squad had debuted their new Diadora national kit. 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. Annevm 04:51, 26 September 2007 (UTC)
Home stadium
Cyprus currently plays home matches at the New GSP Stadium, in Nicosia.
Over the years home matches were staged at different stadiums all around the country. Until 1974 Cyprus used the Old GSP Stadium in central Nicosia, and sometimes stadiums in Famagusta were used. Since then, the team played their home matches at different stadiums. In the 1990s, the Tsirion stadium in Limassol was usually used. In 1999, the building of the New GSP Stadium in Nicosia provided a new home for the national team. Since then all official games are played there, with friendlies played at other stadiums.
World Cup record
European Championship record
- 1960 - Did not enter
- 1964 - Did not enter
- 1968 to 2004 - Did not qualify
- 2008 - Cyprus is competing in qualifying Group D.
European Championship 2008
Cyprus has its ups and downs in the qualifying,they lost Slovakia 6-1 with poor start,but then they faced Ireland,with an impresseve win a 5-2 victory over Ireland.They lost to Wales in there next match,but then supriesed the world with a shocker drawing 1-1 with Germany,one of the best football teams in the world.They eveltully lost there next to games agansit Slovakia and Czechia,but then got another win beating San Marino.And then won them again 3-0.There next match is with Wales. Cyprus won 3-1 after an impressive match and for another time show the real power of a small country. Key:
- Teams highlighted in green are certain of qualification.
- Teams highlighted in red are unable to qualify.
Template:UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group D
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-
Cyprus Squad
The following players named for Euro 2008 qualifying match against Slovakia on March 24, 2007. [1]
Caps and goals as of 15 November2006, included against Germany.
'''''Official fan club'''''Since November 2005, all national teams of Cyprus have their own "faithful" fans, after the creation of the "National Teams Fan Club" (www.cyprusfans.com). In July 2007, the official number of members reached 1000, with the honorary 1000th member being the captain of the football national team, Giannakis Okkas. For the qualifiers of EURO 2008, the Club has already travelled to Slovakia (first away game in history with organised fans following the team from Cyprus), Wales and the Czech Republic. A trip has also been organised for the game against San Marino (August 22, 2007). After that, the club will also travel to the Republic of Ireland and to Germany. The Club supports all team sports (football, basketball, handball, volleyball, athletics), as well as tennis, after Cypriot star Markos Baghdatis joined the club as one of the very first members.
Cyprus national under-21 football team
The Cyprus national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team for Cyprus and like the senior team, is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association.
The team drew their first official match 0-0 in 1978 at home to Spain in a qualifying match for the 1980 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. They then drew 0-0 with the trophy holders Yugoslavia, also at home. They lost both away games though. And finished last in the group of three teams, with two points from four games, and so did not qualify for the Finals.
In the qualifying stages for the 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, Cyprus made history when they defeated France 2-1 in Cyprus as it was the countries first ever official victory at National or Under-21 football level.
In the qualifying stages for the 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, the team beat Greece 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Sweden who went on to reach the Final. Cyprus finished last in their qualifying group with three points, the same number as Greece.
The Under 21 team made gradual improvements and in September 1999, in a qualifying match for the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, drew 1-1 in Spain, the eventual winners of the competition. The team finished fourth out of five teams in their qualifying group, ahead of Austria.
The qualifying stages for the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship provided the greatest achievement for the Cyprus under-21 national team to date, when they finished second in Qualification Group One, with 15 points, winning five of their eight matches. France won the group with 22 points, seven points ahead of Cyprus.
In 2004, Cyprus joined the European Union, and Cypriot teams took advantage of the Bosman rule bringing in foreign players. This has meant that young Cypriot players are now not as common in the Cypriot First Division and is therefore also having an adverse affect on the under-21 national team.
European Championship record Under-21
External links
- RSSSF archive of results 1949-
- RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
- RSSSF archive of coaches 1929-
- Cyprus national football team
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