Northern Ireland v Cyprus (12/06/2020)

• Prior to facing Greece on Thursday, Cyprus had not won an away game since recording back-to-back victories over San Marino and Kazakhstan in September and October 2019. They lost 11 of their next 13 away games, scoring just three times in that period. • The previous Nations League campaign was a disappointment for Cyprus and they had to beat Estonia in the play-outs to ensure they were not relegated out of League C, having finished bottom of a group with Montenegro, Luxembourg and Azerbaijan.

DOMESTIC • The Cypriot First Division is a 12-team league that runs from August through to May each season. • Most of the clubs, including APOEL and Omonoia, are based in the capital Nicosia, while there are also several teams in the southern cities of Larnaca and Limassol . • There have been three different champions across the past three campaigns, with Apollon Limassol winning their first title in a decade this term. Omonoia and APOEL won the two previous championships. • APOEL are the competition’s most successful club and have won 28 championships, seven more than Omonoia. APOEL won seven titles in a row between 2012 and 2019. • APOEL enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals of the 2011-12 Champions League. Having topped a group with Zenit Saint Petersburg, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk, they beat Lyon on penalties in the round of 16 before being eliminated by Real Madrid. • Among those who managed clubs in the Cypriot First Division this past season were former Northern Ireland international Neil Lennon (Omonoia) , former Newcastle United midfielder Temuri Ketsbaia (Anorthosis Famagusta) and one-time Leeds United boss Darko Milanic (Pafos) . • Jordi Gomez, an FA Cup winner with Wigan Athletic, captained Omonoia, while former Crystal Palace midfielder Jason Puncheon was the skipper at Pafos. • Two Northern Ireland internationals have played in the division. Ex-Glentoran, Newcastle United and Burnley man Tommy Cassidy ended his career with APOEL , and later led them to a title as their manager. Current international Kyle Lafferty had a short spell with Anorthosis Famagusta last year.

IRISHFA.COM

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