Cyprus find their footing

By John Leonidou

For Cypriot football pundits, the game on the island is finally on the right road. In the past Cypriot sides would travel abroad aspiring only to concede as few goals as possible with victories representing a dream rather than an aim. However, those times have changed.

Turning point
The exact turning point depends on who you ask. Some say that it was in the mid-1990s, when Cyprus earned draws against then European champions Denmark as well as Russia and achieved their first away win in the Faroe Islands. Others argue that beating Spain 3-2 in a UEFA EURO 2000™ qualifier was the watershed moment.

Flying the flag
Either way, Cypriot footballers are not looking back and despite a sluggish start to the national team's FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, are eager to fly the flag even higher.

Getting better
Anorthosis Famagusta FC's 23-year-old goalkeeper Antonis Georgallides believes that Cyprus have never been better and that Cypriot players and teams will go from strength to strength. "The level of football in Cyprus is getting better and better," he told uefa.com. "We have slipped a little in the last year, especially with the national team and sides in Europe, but you mustn't forget about where we were and where we are now."

Different mentality
He added: "Cypriots now play with a different mentality and they now go into a difficult game, especially in Europe, with aim of trying to grab at least a point rather than all piling back into defence to try and minimise the damage as they used to."

Increased quality
With the steady increase in the level of football on the island has come an increased ambition among Cypriots to try their luck abroad. Already Cyprus has six players playing abroad - all of them in Greece - leading some to worry whether the recent decline of the national team is down to overseas-based players not having enough time to practice together with the squad.

Positive impact
Georgallides, however, disagrees. "I don't believe that having players play abroad is negative for the national team," he said. "Playing abroad can only be an advantage for Cypriots because they can experience and learn football which they cannot learn in Cyprus."

Talented players
Leonidas Leonidou, a star player for APOEL FC, Olympiacos CFP and Cyprus in the seventies, is not so sure. He is convinced that, despite playing in awful conditions, Cyprus had hugely talented players in the past despite never leaving the island.

Old heroes
"We may not have had the luxuries of some of the players today, but we had some fantastic players in the past like Andreas Stylianou, Sotiris Kaiafas and Louis Stefanis," he said. "Should some of these players and others been playing today, the game would have had more skill. Today we see physically better players because of the much improved pitches and facilities."

Different times
Georgallides understands why many people believe that there was richer talent in the older times. "I have no doubt that there were some great talents back then," he said. "However, players back then played in very different conditions to what we face today."

Self-expression
He added: "For example, nearly all the teams on the island play on grass, have good facilities and good infrastructure whereas back then most teams would simply arrive on the day of the match to play and that's it. The advantage for players back then was they could express themselves more as individuals on the pitch rather than play in such tight formations as we do now."