Northern Ireland v Cyprus (12/06/2020)

WORDS: LIAM BLACKBURN

FACT FILE: CYPRUS

• Only one man has won over 100 caps for Cyprus. That is Ioannis Okkas, who played for his country 106 times between 1997 and 2011. Having previously been part of the coaching set-up with the senior side, Okkas is currently in charge of Cyprus’ Under-21s. • Okkas scored 27 times for Cyprus, which is second in the all-time list behind Michalis Konstantinou, who found the net 32 times in 86 appearances between 1997 and 2012. • Both Okkas and Konstantinou were part of the Cyprus squad when they recorded some memorable results in the qualifiers for Euro 2008. After losing 6-1 to Slovakia in their first game of the group, Cyprus shocked the Republic of Ireland with a 5-2 success in the next game as Konstantinou scored twice. • Okkas was then on target when Cyprus held Germany to a famous 1-1 draw in Nicosia before they beat Wales 3-1 at home. They then held the Republic to a 1-1 draw in Dublin, when only a late Steve Finnan goal prevented Cyprus from doing the double. • Cyprus also claimed a memorable result in their group for Euro 2012 qualification when they drew 4-4 with Portugal . • The nation thought Cyprus were going to secure a play-off berth to determine if they would reach Euro 2016 when they led Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-1 in the final group game. However, a 3-2 loss meant it was the Bosnians who would finish third and claim the play-off spot instead. • Cyprus’ first official international was against Israel in 1960, which they drew 1-1 in Nicosia as part of the qualifiers for the 1962 World Cup. • The victory over Northern Ireland in 1974 was one of the country’s most memorable results until they managed to claim a 1-1 draw against Italy in February 1983. At the time the Italians were the reigning world champions. • Typically much stronger at home than they were on their travels, Cyprus did not record their first qualifying victory away from home until beating the Faroe Islands 2-0 in 1992. • The country’s biggest wins were 5-0 successes over Andorra in 2000 and 2014, and against San Marino in 2019. The biggest defeat Cyprus have suffered was a 12-0 loss to West Germany in 1969.

INTERNATIONAL • Having only played against Northern Ireland twice since 1973 prior to this month, Cyprus face Ian Baraclough’s men for the second time in the space of eight days. All three of the most recent meetings have ended goalless. • Mark Williams captained Sammy McIlroy’s team in a friendly in Belfast in 2002 when the honours were even. • Twelve years later the two countries met again in Nicosia with Michael O’Neill in charge of Northern Ireland. However, neither side could find a way through again in that friendly. The most notable incident of that night was a red card in the second half for defender Gareth McAuley. • Cyprus and Northern Ireland first met in qualifying for the 1972 Euros. Jimmy Nicholson, Derek Dougan and George Best were on target in a 3-0 win in Nicosia. All three scored again when Northern Ireland won 5-0 in the reverse fixture in Belfast , with Best netting a hat-trick. It was the only treble of his international career and his final goals for Northern Ireland. • Northern Ireland were once again paired with Cyprus in qualifying for the 1974 World Cup. This time Cyprus were victorious in Nicosia, with a 1-0 success that remains their only victory over Northern Ireland in their history. Northern Ireland won their home game, with Trevor Anderson scoring twice in a 3-0 success. • Cyprus have never qualified for a major international tournament . Their most recent placing in the FIFA World Rankings was 105th, sandwiched between Kenya and India. Their highest world ranking was 43rd, which they achieved in September 2010.

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NIR V CYP