The Cyprus national football team is the team that represents the country in international football championships and friendly matches. Its activities are regulated by the Cyprus Football Association. Unfortunately, the Cyprus national football team has never been lucky enough to participate in the finals of the World Cup or the European Championship. It is worth noting that the national team regularly takes part in the Cyprus Football Association Cup online sports betting, where it can try its hand with representatives of different countries. To date, the Cyprus national football team is in 103rd place in the FIFA rankings and 37th in the UEFA rankings.
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A bit of history
The first official match with the participation of the Cypriot team was to be held in 1958 in Israel. But due to the fact that the athletes were not issued visas, they suffered a technical defeat. They were able to participate in the match only in 1960, but they never managed to win.
The first victory of the Cyprus national team took place on February 14, 1973, in a duel with Northern Ireland. Already in 1968, the team took part in the Euro, where they fought against the national teams of Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, and Switzerland.
Colossal success awaited the team in 1995 during the selection for the World Cup in the United States. The Cypriot team was able to get as many as 7 points. They defeated Armenia, Denmark, and Macedonia.
In 1998, the Cypriot national team had another series of victorious matches. The team managed to beat the national team of Israel, Luxembourg, Belgium, Bulgaria, and also got a draw in the match with Russia and France.
In qualifying for the European Championship, the Cypriot team showed an amazing result, they managed to defeat Spain with a score of 3:2. But unfortunately, the team failed to get ahead of the Austrian team. The Cypriots beat Andorra, Bulgaria and Macedonia, and also drew with the Estonians. But the received 8 points were not enough to pass to the next stage of the competition.
In Euro 2008, the Cypriot team was expected to experience continuous setbacks. They have lost every match except Faroes. The team took 103rd place in the FIFA rankings, and the coach left his leadership position.
In Euro 2012, the match with Portugal became a landmark, in which the Cypriot team was able to choose a draw. In 2016, the team almost reached the European Championship due to the victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel. One more victory was not enough for success. But, unfortunately, success was not on their side.
Best players
- Jokam Tumbas is a kind of Greek-made Gregory Coupe. For many years he remained the reserve keeper of the national team. But having received a chance to become the main one at the last frontier in the selection for the 2010 World Cup, Tumbas did not take advantage of it. And in general, his game has noticeably deteriorated. In the qualifying tournament for the current Euro, he did not hold a single meeting at all. Fernando Santos was not at all eager to take him to the team, but the situation with the goalkeepers in the team forced the mentor to call Tumbas. And now he will probably start the tournament at the gates of the Cyprus national team.
- Panos Katelaris is a fairly versatile player, in his club he often plays as a right-back, he is included in this role in the application for the Euro. However, most likely, it will be used as a reference midfielder. Katelaris was practically not involved in qualifying, he only came on as a substitute three times, but he had an excellent season at Olympiakos, and they are counting on him in the national team. At least he took part in all three meetings that the Greeks had before the Euro. Katelaris is mobile, hardy, tough in selection, quite capable of giving a sharpening pass. But first, he is a homebody, whose main function is to slow down the opponent’s attacks.
- Haris Kyriakou is the main hope of Cypriot football, a player of phenomenal talent. He was brought to Germany by Felix Magat, who looked after the rosy-cheeked monster in matches for the youth team of Olympiacos. At first, it seemed that Magat was mistaken in calling this bumpkin to the team. But two years have passed, and this move by Magath is recognized as effective as the invitation to Gelsenkirchen Raul. Kyriakou is full of health, he can rush around the field without getting tired. Of course, he is very temperamental, which sometimes bothers him. If he leaves the field without a yellow card, then he ate something wrong in the morning. Kyriako can be successfully used both in the center of the field and in the center of defense. So far, he lacks tactical training, but this will come to him with experience. But he simply masterfully plays at the top, he has a crazy vertical jump and, with not the most amazing dimensions, is able to outplay opponents. In 10 matches for the national team, he scored four goals. In the penalty area for him an eye and an eye.
- Pieros Soteriou, in terms of its texture and technical data, for a long time resembled Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the Greek failed to reach the same peaks as the Swede. He is now settled in the Scottish Premier League, which is not going through the best of times, he continues to replenish his scoring reserves, but is considered only an average player. By the way, a few years ago, Samaras knocked Dynamo Moscow out of the Champions League qualification with his goal. In the qualifying tournament, Samaras played in 8 games, but scored only 1 goal.
