Cyprus national football team

Cyprus
Shirt badge/Association crest
Association Cyprus Football Association
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Greece Angelos Anastasiadis (2004-)
Captain Ioannis Okkas
Most caps Ioannis Okkas (97)
Top scorer Michalis Konstantinou (30)
Home stadium Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca
FIFA code CYP
FIFA ranking 67
Highest FIFA ranking 57 (October 2007)
Lowest FIFA ranking 113 (March 2005)
Elo ranking 78
Highest Elo ranking 64
Lowest Elo ranking 141 (March 1992)
Home colours
Away colours
First international
Unofficial:
Israel Israel 3 - 1 Cyprus Blue Ensign of Cyprus (1922).svg
(Tel-Aviv, Israel; July 30, 1949)
Official:
Cyprus Cyprus 1 - 1 Israel Israel
(Nicosia, Cyprus; November 13, 1960)
Biggest win
Cyprus Cyprus 5 - 0 Andorra Andorra
(Limassol, Cyprus; November 15, 2000)
Biggest defeat
West Germany West Germany 12 - 0 Cyprus Cyprus
(Essen, Germany; May 21, 1969)

The Cyprus national football team is the national football team of the island of Cyprus and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. They have never reached the finals of either the European Championships or the World Cup.

They are currently managed by Angelos Anastasiadis.

Contents

History

Their first match was a friendly on 23 July 1949, against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Tel Aviv which ended in a 3-3 draw, one year after becoming a member of the world governing body FIFA. Seven days later the team had its first international game, a 3-1 defeat against Israel in the same city. In November 1960, following independence from British rule, Cyprus drew its first post-independence official match 1-1 against Israel, as part of the 1962 FIFA World Cup qualifying tournament.

Cyprus' first international victory was a 3-1 win against Greece on 27 November 1963 in a friendly. On 17 February 1968 Cyprus recorded their first competitive win, beating Switzerland 2-1 in a European Championship qualifying match in Nicosia.

In 1974, the national team enjoyed one of their most famous victories when they beat a Northern Ireland side 1-0 in Nicosia. On 12 February 1983, as part of the Euro 1984 qualifiers, Cyprus held world champions Italy to a 1-1 draw in Nicosia, followed a month later by the same result against Czechoslovakia. In 1989 they drew 1-1 with France in World Cup qualifying match. Despite a number of triumphs on home soil, Cyprus had to wait until 1992 to record their first away win, a 2-0 victory in the Faroe Islands.

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. 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 contributing to the team finishing on 12 points, just one point behind Israel who qualified for the Euro 2000 play-offs.

On 15 November 2000 Cyprus scored their biggest win in history by beating Andorra in Limassol 5-0 for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.

On 7 October 2006, as part of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, Cyprus caused a major upset by beating Republic of Ireland 5-2 at home with Michalis Konstantinou and Constantinos Charalambides each scoring two goals and Alexandros Garpozis one goal. On 15 November 2006, they caused another surprise by holding the World Cup semi-finalists Germany to a 1-1 draw at home. On 13 October 2007, they won over Wales 3-1 in Nicosia. Also on 17 October 2007 Cyprus came close to a historic away victory in Dublin against Republic of Ireland, but equalised on the last minute of the game, and the match ended 1-1. On 3 September 2010, as part of the Euro 2012 qualifiers, Cyprus claimed a historic result against Portugal after drawing 4-4 in Guimarães.

Kit

On 7 October 2006 a new kit, made by Diadora and outlining a map of Cyprus in amber from the shoulder to the sleeve with a green line running down the middle indicating the division of the island. This kit was used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, and was replaced by a kit made by Adidas for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.

Home stadium

Cyprus versus Italy, 6 September 2008.

Cyprus currently plays home matches at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca. Home matches had previously been staged at different stadiums all around the country. Until 1974 Cyprus used either the old GSP Stadium in central Nicosia, or the GSE stadium in Famagusta. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, some matches were played at Tsirion Stadium in Limassol and the Makario Stadium in Nicosia. In 1999, the building of the New GSP Stadium in Nicosia provided a new home for the national team however in 2008 a change of sponsorship forced home fixtures for FIFA 2010 qualification to be played at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium.

Total Results and Records

Last Update: December 12, 2009

Competition Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA
FIFA World Cup qualification 94 11 10 73 74 266
European Championship qualification 86 12 12 62 60 231
Friendly Matches 102 32 26 44 119 152
TOTAL 282 55 48 179 253 649

FIFA World Cup Record

European Championship Record

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Norway 3 3 0 0 5 2 +3 9
 Portugal 4 2 1 1 10 7 +3 7
 Denmark 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6
 Cyprus 3 0 1 2 5 8 −3 1
 Iceland 3 0 0 3 2 6 −4 0
  Cyprus Denmark Iceland Norway Portugal
Cyprus  — 7 Oct '11 26 Mar '11 1–2 2 Sep '11
Denmark  2–0 — 1–0 6 Sep '11 11 Oct '11
Iceland  6 Sep '11 4 Jun '11 — 1–2 1–3
Norway  11 Oct '11 26 Mar '11 2 Sep '11 — 1–0
Portugal  4–4 3–1 7 Oct '11 4 Jun '11 —

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Italy 10 7 3 0 18 7 +11 24
 Republic of Ireland 10 4 6 0 12 8 +4 18
 Bulgaria 10 3 5 2 17 13 +4 14
 Cyprus 10 2 3 5 14 16 −2 9
 Montenegro 10 1 6 3 9 14 −5 9
 Georgia 10 0 3 7 7 19 −12 3
  Bulgaria Cyprus Georgia (country) Italy Montenegro Republic of Ireland
Bulgaria  – 2 – 0 6 – 2 0 – 0 4 – 1 1 – 1
Cyprus  4 – 1 – 2 – 1 1 – 2 2 – 2 1 – 2
Georgia  0 – 0 1 – 1 – 0 – 2 0 – 0 1 – 2
Italy  2 – 0 3 – 2 2 – 0 – 2 – 1 1 – 1
Montenegro  2 – 2 1 – 1 2 – 1 0 – 2 – 0 – 0
Republic of Ireland  1 – 1 1 – 0 2 – 1 2 – 2 0 – 0 –

World Cup Qualification Matches

All times for FIFA World Cup qualification at CET

2008-09-06
20:45
 Cyprus  1 – 2  Italy Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca
Attendance: 8,000
Referee: Netherlands Pieter Vink
Aloneftis Goal 29' Report Di Natale Goal 8' , Goal 90+2'
2008-10-11
18:30
 Georgia  1 – 1  Cyprus Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Czech Republic Radek Matejek
Kobiashvili Goal 73' Report Konstantinou Goal 66'
2008-10-15
20:45
 Republic of Ireland  1 – 0  Cyprus Croke Park, Dublin
Attendance: 55,833
Referee: Romania Alexandru Dan Tudor
Keane Goal 4' Report
2009-03-28
19:00
 Cyprus  2 – 1  Georgia Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: France Fredy Fautrel
Konstantinou Goal 33'
Christofi Goal 56'		 Report Kobiashvili Goal 71' (pen.)
2009-04-01
18:00
 Bulgaria  2 – 0  Cyprus Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia
Attendance: 16,916
Referee: Sweden Martin Ingvarsson
Popov Goal 8'
Makriev Goal 90+4'		 Report
2009-06-06
20:30
 Cyprus  2 – 2  Montenegro Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca
Attendance: 4,500
Referee: Spain Carlos Velasco Carballo
Konstantinou Goal 14'
Michael Goal 45' (pen.)		 Report Damjanović Goal 65' , Goal 77'
2009-09-05
20:30
 Cyprus  1 – 2  Republic of Ireland GSP Stadium, Nicosia
Attendance: 5,191
Referee: Australia Thomas Einwaller
Elia Goal 30' Report Doyle Goal 5', Keane Goal 83'
2009-09-09
20:15
 Montenegro  1 – 1  Cyprus Pod Goricom, Podgorica
Attendance: 4,000
Referee: Switzerland Carlo Bertolini
Vučinić Goal 57' (pen.) Report Okkas Goal 64'
2009-10-10
19:00
 Cyprus  4 – 1  Bulgaria Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca
Attendance: 2,628
Referee: Belgium Paul Allaerts
Charalambides Goal 11', 20'
Konstantinou Goal 58'
Aloneftis Goal 78'		 Report Berbatov Goal 45'
2009-10-14
20:00
 Italy  3 – 2  Cyprus Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma
Attendance: 15,009
Referee: Israel Alon Yefet
Gilardino Goal 78', 81', 90+2' Report Okkas Goal 12'
Michael Goal 48'

Current squad

Squad called up for the Euro 2012 qualfiying matches against Portugal on 3 September 2010.

Players' records are accurate as of 11 August 2010

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
GK Antonis Georgallides January 30, 1982 31 0 Cyprus Omonia
GK Anastasios Kissas January 18, 1988 1 0 Cyprus APOEL
GK Sofronis Avgousti March 9, 1977 11 0 Cyprus Apollon
DF Marios Elia April 14, 1979 42 2 Cyprus APOEL
DF Paraskevas Christou February 2, 1984 26 0 Cyprus Alki
DF Elias Charalambous September 25, 1980 44 0 Cyprus Omonia
DF Giorgos Merkis July 30, 1984 3 0 Cyprus Apollon
DF Alexandros Garpozis September 5, 1980 35 1 Cyprus AEL
DF Savvas Poursaitidis June 26, 1976 2 0 Cyprus APOEL
MF Siniša Dobrasinović February 17, 1977 4 0 Cyprus Alki
MF Christos Marangos May 9, 1983 18 1 Cyprus Anorthosis
MF Chrysis Michael May 26, 1977 61 7 Cyprus APOEL
MF Marinos Satsias May 24, 1978 52 0 Cyprus APOEL
MF Marios Nicolaou October 4, 1983 22 1 Cyprus AEL
MF Andreas Avraam June 6, 1989 12 1 Cyprus Omonia
MF Georgios Efrem July 5, 1989 4 0 Cyprus Omonia
MF Constantinos Charalambides July 25, 1981 51 11 Cyprus APOEL
MF Efstathios Aloneftis March 29, 1983 38 8 Cyprus Omonia
MF Constantinos Makrides January 13, 1982 47 3 Cyprus Omonia
FW Michalis Konstantinou February 19, 1978 71 30 Cyprus Omonia
FW Ioannis Okkas July 16, 1977 98 23 Cyprus Anorthosis

Recent Call Ups

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club
DF Stelios Okkarides November 15, 1977 34 1 Cyprus Doxa Katokopias
DF Andreas Constantinou October 12, 1980 7 0 Cyprus Alki
MF Jason Demetriou November 18, 1987 3 0 Cyprus AEK Larnaca
MF Giorgos Panagi November 3, 1986 11 0 Cyprus Omonia
MF Nektarios Alexandrou December 19, 1983 10 0 Cyprus APOEL
FW Yiasoumis Yiasoumi May 31, 1975 63 7 Cyprus AEK Larnaca
FW Demetris Christofi September 28, 1988 12 2 Cyprus Omonia
FW Giorgos Tofas June 17, 1989 0 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta
FW Andreas Papathanasiou October 2, 1983 4 0 Cyprus Anorthosis Famagusta

Past Managers

Name Career
Greece Angelos Anastasiadis 2004 - current
Serbia Momčilo Vukotić 2001–2004
Cyprus Stavros Papadopoulos 1999–2001
Cyprus Panikos Georgiou 1997–1999
Cyprus Andreas Michaelides 1991–1997
Cyprus Panikos Iakovou 1984–1991
Bulgaria Vassil Spasov 1982–1984
Greece Kostas Talianos 1977–1982
Cyprus Panikos Krystallis 1976–1977
Cyprus Pambos Avraamidis 1972–1976
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Sima Milovanov 1972
England Ray Wood 1969–1971
Cyprus Pambos Avraamidis 1968–1969
Greece Argyrios Gavalas 1960–1967
Hungary Gyula Zsengellér 1958–1959

Player records

As of December 12, 2009

Most capped Cyprus players

# Name Debut Caps Goals Active?
1 Ioannis Okkas 1997 97 24 Yes
2 Pambos Pittas 1987 82 7 No
3 Nicos Panayiotou 1994 75 0 No
4 Michalis Constantinou 1998 75 29 Yes
5 Giorgos Theodotou 1996 70 0 No

Top Cyprus goalscorers

# Player Debut Caps Goals Active?
1 Michalis Konstantinou 1998 75 29 Yes
2 Ioannis Okkas 1997 97 24 Yes
3 Constantinos Charalambides 2003 50 11 Yes
4 Marios Agathokleous 1994 38 10 Yes
5 Milenko Spoljaric 1997 21 8 No
6 Siniša Gogić 1994 37 8 No

See here for top goal scorers per country.

Memorable Results

Date Tournament Place Match Score
November 27, 1963 Friendly Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Greece 3 - 1
February 17, 1968 UEFA EURO 1968 qualifying Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Switzerland 2 - 1
May 13, 1979 UEFA EURO 1968 qualifying Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Romania 1 - 1
February 14, 1973 1974 FIFA World Cup qualification Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Northern Ireland 1 - 0
February 12, 1983 UEFA EURO 1984 qualifying Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Italy 1 - 1
March 27, 1983 UEFA EURO 1984 qualifying Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Czechoslovakia 1 - 1
April 12, 1987 UEFA EURO 1988 qualifying Gdansk, Poland  Poland -  Cyprus 0 - 0
October 22, 1988 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  France 1 - 1
March 24, 1993 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Czechoslovakia 1 - 1
March 29, 1995 UEFA EURO 1996 qualifying Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Denmark 1 - 1
November 15, 1995 UEFA EURO 1996 qualifying Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Belgium 1 - 1
November 10, 1996 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Israel 2 - 0
March 29, 1997 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification Paralimni, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Russia 1 - 1
September 5, 1998 UEFA EURO 2000 qualifying Larnaca, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Spain 3 - 2
September 5, 1999 UEFA EURO 2000 qualifying Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Israel 3 - 2
February 6, 2000 Friendly Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Romania 3 - 2
November 15, 2000 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Andorra 5 - 0
February 28, 2001 Friendly Larnaca, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Ukraine 4 - 3
November 14, 2001 Friendly Athens, Greece  Greece -  Cyprus 1 - 2
June 7, 2003 UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying Valletta, Malta  Malta -  Cyprus 1 - 2
October 11, 2003 UEFA EURO 2004 qualifying Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Slovenia 2 - 2
August 18, 2004 Friendly Limassol, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Albania 2 - 1
October 7, 2006 UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Republic of Ireland 5 - 2
November 15, 2006 UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Germany 1 - 1
October 13, 2007 UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Wales 3 - 1
October 17, 2007 UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying Dublin, Ireland  Republic of Ireland -  Cyprus 1 - 1
February 6, 2008 Friendly Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Ukraine 1 - 1
October 11, 2008 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Tbilisi, Georgia  Georgia -  Cyprus 1 - 1
February 11, 2009 Friendly Nicosia, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Slovakia 3 - 2
March 28, 2009 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Larnaca, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Georgia 2 - 1
September 9, 2009 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Podgorica, Montenegro  Montenegro -  Cyprus 1 - 1
October 11, 2009 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Larnaca, Cyprus  Cyprus -  Bulgaria 4 - 1
September 3, 2010 UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Guimarães, Portugal  Portugal -  Cyprus 4 - 4


References

External links

Football in Cyprus
League competitions
First Division · Second Division · Third Division · Fourth Division · Women's 1st Division
Cup competitions
Cypriot Cup · LTV Super Cup
National teams
Men · U-21 · U-19 · Futsal · Women
Lists and categories
Clubs · Competitions · Venues · Foreign players
Cyprus Football Association
International association football
FIFA · World Cup · Confederations Cup · U-20 World Cup · U-17 World Cup · Olympics · Asian Games · All-Africa Games · Pan American Games · Minor tournaments · World Rankings · Player of the Year · FIFA Ballon d'Or  · Teams · Debuts · Competitions · Federations · Codes
Asia
Africa
North, Central America and Caribbean
South America
CONMEBOL – Copa América
Oceania
Europe
Non-FIFA
N.F.-Board – Viva World Cup– Europeada
National association football teams of Europe (UEFA)
Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · Northern Ireland · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales