Greece too strong for Cyprus

Greece defeated Cyprus 3-1 in a friendly today on the island of Rhodes, with all of their goals being scored by defenders.

End of a drought
Cyprus took the lead in the fifth minute after a clever shot by Nikolaos Nikolaou that surprised goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis. It was Nikolaou's first goal in 13 appearances for his country.

Defence into attack
Panagiotis Fissas equalised in the 27th minute with a long-range shot and he gave Greece the lead five minutes later with a header after Stylianos Giannakopoulos's centre. Cyprus hit the post on the hour mark through Giannakis Okkas, but after that, it was the home team that took control of the match and after 79 minutes, central defender Georgios Amanatidis collected a loose ball in the Cypriot area and made it 3-1.