Cyprus national under-21 football team
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The Cyprus national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team for Cyprus and like the senior team, is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association.
The team drew their first official match 0-0 in 1978 at home to Spain in a qualifying match for the 1980 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. They then drew 0-0 with the trophy holders Yugoslavia, also at home. They lost both away games though. And finished last in the group of three teams, with two points from four games, and so did not qualify for the Finals.
In the qualifying stages for the 1982 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, Cyprus made history when they defeated France 2-1 in Cyprus as it was the countries first ever official victory at National or Under-21 football level.
In the qualifying stages for the 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, the team beat Greece 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Sweden who went on to reach the Final. Cyprus finished last in their qualifying group with three points, the same number as Greece.
The Under 21 team made gradual improvements and in September 1999, in a qualifying match for the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, drew 1-1 in Spain, the eventual winners of the competition. The team finished fourth out of five teams in their qualifying group, ahead of Austria.
The qualifying stages for the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship provided the greatest achievement for the Cyprus under-21 national team to date, when they finished second in Qualification Group One, with 15 points, winning five of their eight matches. France won the group with 22 points, seven points ahead of Cyprus.
In 2004, Cyprus joined the European Union, and Cypriot teams took advantage of the Bosman rule bringing in foreign players. This has meant that young Cypriot players are now not as common in the Cypriot First Division and is therefore also having an adverse affect on the under-21 national team.
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[edit] European Championship record Under-21
- 1978 - Did not enter
- 1980 to 2007 - Did not qualify
[edit] Squad
Correct as of February 2008.
[edit] Goalkeepers
- Nikolas Asprogenis (AC Omonia)
- Evagoras Hadjifrangkeskou (MEAP Nisou)
[edit] Defenders
- Apostolos Michael (MEAP Nisou)
- Michalis Michael (AEK Larnaca)
- Alexandros Demetriou (AEP Paphos)
- Menelaos Aristidou (Aris Limassol)
- Panayiotis Panayiotou (APOEL)
- Christos Efthymiou (Olympiakos Nicosia)
- Orthodoxos Ioannou (Nea Salamina)
[edit] Midfielders
- Adamos Efstathiou (Enosis Neon Paralimni)
- Giorgos Panagi (Anorthosis Famagusta) (captain)
- Michalis Demetriou (Apollon Limassol)
- Theodoros Katsiaris (Onisilos)
- Elias Vattis (AC Omonia)
- Feidias Panayiotou (Olympiakos Nicosia)
- Demetris Kyriakou (Digenis Morphou)
- Demetris Christofi (Enosis Neon Paralimni)
- Kyriacos Pavlou (AC Omonia)
[edit] Forwards
- Savvas Pikramenos (APOP Kinyras Peyias)
- Andreas Avraam (Apollon Limassol)
- Giorgos Sielis (Chaidari)
- Christos Xenofontos (AEK Larnaca)
