First Nations League win for Cyprus
First Nations League win for Cyprus
UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 2
Cyprus recorded their first win in the UEFA Nations League with a 2:1 comeback against Slovenia at the GSP Stadium.
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After a bad away performance and loss to Norway in Matchday one, Cyprus bounced back with a win in front of their home crowd. Manager Ran Ben Shimon proceeded to changes in the lineup, with the most notable change starting Konstantinos Panagi instead of Urko Pardo between the posts.
Just two minutes into the game, Grigoris Kastanos cane close to scoring, but his finish was not good enough and it was stopped by Vid Belec. Cyprus looked much improved in comparison with the game against Norway, trying to find ways to threaten Slovenia. On the other hand the visitors looked to get in the back of the Cypriot defence, but they were unable to penetrate it. The first half did not provide many chances and both teams went into halftime goalless.
Slovenia was the team that started the second half better and with a header from Robert Beric managed to open the scoring in the 54th minute, after a cross from Bojan Jokic. The goal brought confidence to the Slovenians who looked to double their lead and kill off the game.
Ben Shimon freshened up his team subbing off Grigoris Kastanos and Nikolas Ioannou with Onisiforos Roushias and Renato Margaca respectively. The subs improved Cyprus’ display and they answered back with Pieros Sotiriou who received the ball after a slick passing game to beat Belec for the equaliser in the 68th minute.
The goal boosted the host’s morale and looked to turn the game around as they began to press the Slovenians. As the end of the game neared, Sotiriou and Fotis Papoulis forced Belec to make important saves to keep the games all level.
The difference came in the 89th minute, as Charalambos Kyriakou took a free kick and Petar Stojanovic in an effort to clear the attempt,!headed the ball to his own net to complete the Cypriot turnaround.
Cyprus recorded an important victory and combined it with good performance as the players showed heart and never-die attitude to comeback and win the game. This was the first win by the Cypriot national team in just over a year, the previous win coming in August 2017 against Bosnia-Herzegovina in World Cup qualifying. The Cypriots would like to see more of this against the group leaders, Bulgaria, in the next fixture in October.
Cyprus are now 3rd in the Group 3 of the League C in the Nations League. Bulgaria lead with 6 points, Norway is second with 3 and Slovenia is last with no points.
by Marios Antoniou
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