Cyprus National Football Team

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Template:National football team The Cyprus national football team is the national 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.


History

The Cyprus national team lost their first international friendly, 3-0 against 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 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 and 1968 European Footballer of the Year George Best, 1-0 in Nicosia. 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.

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 rarely. Since then played their home matches on different venues, while in 1990s, more usually was used the stadium in Limassol. That changed in 1999, with the creation of the New GSP Stadium in Nicosia. ForWorld 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.

World Cup record

European Championship record

Managers

  • 1960-1967 Argyrios Gavalas
  • 1968-1969 Pambos Avraamidis
  • 1970-1971 Rey Wood
  • 1972 Sima Milovanov
  • 1972-1974 Pambos Avraamidis
  • 1974 Panikos Iakovou
  • 1975 Pambos Avraamidis
  • 1976 Kostas Talianos
  • 1976-1977 Panikos Krystalis
  • 1977 Andreas Lazaridis
  • 1978-1982 Kostas Talianos
  • 1982-1984 Bazile Spasov
  • 1984-1987 Panikos Iakovou
  • 1987 Takis Charalambous
  • 1988-1991 Panikos Ioakovou
  • 1991-1996 Andreas Michailidis
  • 1997 Stavros Papadopoulos
  • 1997-1999 Panikos Georgiou
  • 1999-2001 Stavros Papadopoulos
  • 2001 Takis Charalambous
  • 2001-2004 Moca Vukotic
  • 2004- Aggelos Anastasiadis


External links