Cyprus national football team

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Cyprus

Association	Cyprus Football Association
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Angelos Anastasiadis (2004-)
Captain	Ioannis Okkas
Most caps	Ioannis Okkas (93)
Top scorer	Michalis Konstantinou (29)
Home stadium	Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca
FIFA code	CYP
FIFA ranking	73
Highest FIFA ranking	57 (October 2007)
Lowest FIFA ranking	113 (March 2005)
Elo ranking	81
Highest Elo ranking	64 (July 1949)
Lowest Elo ranking	141 (March 1992)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Israel 3 - 1 Cyprus (Tel-Aviv, Israel; July 30, 1949)
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 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.

Contents 1 History 2 Kit 3 Home stadium 4 Total Results and Records 5 FIFA World Cup Record 6 European Championship Record 7 UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying 8 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 9 World Cup Qualification Matches 10 Current Squad 10.1 Recent Call Ups 11 Past Managers 11.1 Player records 11.2 Most capped Cyprus players 11.3 Top Cyprus goalscorers 12 Memorable matches 13 References 14 External links

[edit] 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 beating Greece on 27 November 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.

[edit] Kit

On 7 October 2006 the Cypriot squad made up of Greek Cypriots debuted their new Diadora kit. The new white kit displays part of the 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 used for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying.

For the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification the national team of Cyprus will use their new Adidas kits.

[edit] Home stadium

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.

[edit] Total Results and Records

Last Update: September 07, 2008

Competition	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA
FIFA World Cup qualification	85	9	7	69	61	252
European Championship qualification	86	12	12	62	60	231
Friendly Matches	97	30	26	41	113	140
TOTAL	268	51	45	172	234	623

[edit] FIFA World Cup Record

• 1930 to 1954 - Did not enter
• 1958 - Withdrew
• 1962 to 2006 - Did not qualify

[edit] European Championship Record

• 1960 - Did not enter
• 1964 - Did not enter
• 1968 to 2008 - Did not qualify

[edit] UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying

Key:

• Teams highlighted in green are certain of qualification.
• Teams highlighted in red are unable to qualify.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Czech Republic 12 9 2 1 27 5 +22 29  Germany 12 8 3 1 35 7 +28 27  Republic of Ireland 12 4 5 3 17 14 +3 17  Slovakia 12 5 1 6 33 23 +10 16  Wales 12 4 3 5 18 19 −1 15  Cyprus 12 4 2 6 17 24 −7 14  San Marino 12 0 0 12 2 57 −55 0

CYP CZE GER IRL SMR SVK WAL Cyprus — 0–2 1–1 5–2 3–0 1–3 3–1 Czech Republic 1–0 — 1–2 1–0 7–0 3–1 2–1 Germany 4–0 0–3 — 1–0 6–0 2–1 0–0 Republic of Ireland 1–1 1–1 0–0 — 5–0 1–0 1–0 San Marino 0–1 0–3 0–13 1–2 — 0–5 1–2 Slovakia 6–1 0–3 1–4 2–2 7–0 — 2–5 Wales 3–1 0–0 0–2 2–2 3–0 1–5 —

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Italy 6 4 2 0 9 3 +6 14  Republic of Ireland 7 3 4 0 8 5 +3 13  Bulgaria 6 1 5 0 6 4 +2 8  Cyprus 6 1 2 3 6 9 −3 5  Montenegro 6 0 4 2 5 8 −3 4  Georgia 7 0 3 4 4 9 −5 3

Bulgaria  – 2 – 0 14 Oct 0 – 0 5 Sep 1 – 1 Cyprus  10 Oct – 2 – 1 1 – 2 2 – 2 5 Sep Georgia  0 – 0 1 – 1 – 5 Sep 0 – 0 1 – 2 Italy  9 Sep 14 Oct 2 – 0 – 2 – 1 1 – 1 Montenegro  2 – 2 9 Sep 10 Oct 0 – 2 – 0 – 0 Republic of Ireland  1 – 1 1 – 0 2 – 1 10 Oct 14 Oct –

[edit] 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: 6,000 Referee: Pieter Vink
	Aloneftis  29'	Report	Di Natale  8' ,  90+2'

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2008-10-11 18:30	Georgia	1 – 1	Cyprus	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi Attendance: 40,000 Referee: Radek Matejek
	Kobiashvili  73'	Report	Konstantinou  66'

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2008-10-15 20:45	Republic of Ireland	1 – 0	Cyprus	Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 55,833 Referee: Alexandru Dan Tudor
	Keane  4'	Report

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2009-03-28 19:00	Cyprus	2 – 1	Georgia	Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Fredy Fautrel
	Konstantinou  33' Christofi  56'	Report	Kobiashvili  71' (pen.)

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2009-04-01 18:00	Bulgaria	2 – 0	Cyprus	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia Attendance: 16,916 Referee: Martin Ingvarsson
	Popov  8' Makriev  90+4'	Report

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