Cyprus national under-21 football team

Cyprus Under-21

Nickname(s)	Εθνική Ελπίδων ("National team of Hopes")
Association	Cyprus Football Association
Head coach	Savvas Paraskevas
Captain	Marios Antoniades
Most caps	—
Top scorer	—
Home colours Away colours

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.The scorer of the Cypriot goals was Islington born Kikis Kyriacou of Olympiakos-Nicosia whose promising career was brought to a premature end following a horrific leg injury.

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.

Cyprus National Team Competition Record

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
UEFA U-21 Championship	104	20	12	72	88	211

European Championship record Under-21

• 1978 - Did not enter
• 1980 to 2007 - Did not qualify

Current squad

Squad called up for the friendly matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 12, 2011 and against Germany on November 15, 2011 .

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club GK Kyriacos Ioannou 8 October 1990 (1990-10-08) (age 21) 7 0 Doxa Katokopia GK Giorgos Papadopoulos 24 April 1991 (1991-04-24) (age 20) 2 0 Ermis Aradippou DF Marios Antoniades 14 May 1990 (1990-05-14) (age 21) 13 0 APOEL DF Andreas Christofides 14 October 1992 (1992-10-14) (age 19) 4 0 APOEL DF Stelios Demetriou 4 October 1990 (1990-10-04) (age 21) 6 1 Apollon Limassol DF Valentinos Sielis 1 March 1990 (1990-03-01) (age 21) 8 2 Anorthosis Famagusta DF Sotiris Finiris 7 September 1991 (1991-09-07) (age 20) 2 0 PAEEK DF Nicolas Killas 8 February 1991 (1991-02-08) (age 20) 2 0 Atromitos Yeroskipou MF Angelos Perikleous 5 January 1990 (1990-01-05) (age 21) 7 0 AEL Limassol MF Giorgos Economides 10 April 1990 (1990-04-10) (age 21) 9 0 APOEL MF Rafael Yiangoudakis 3 August 1990 (1990-08-03) (age 21) 6 0 Nea Salamina MF Emilios Panayiotou 22 September 1992 (1992-09-22) (age 19) 6 0 APOEL MF Andreas Alcibiades 19 September 1991 (1991-09-19) (age 20) 5 0 PAEEK FW Zacharias Theodorou 7 July 1993 (1993-07-07) (age 18) 0 0 Anorthosis Famagusta MF Christos Mylonas 19 October 1990 (1990-10-19) (age 21) 0 0 Ermis Aradippou FW Nestoras Mitidis 1 June 1991 (1991-06-01) (age 20) 5 3 AEK Larnaca FW Andreas Pittaras 3 August 1990 (1990-08-03) (age 21) 8 3 Apollon Limassol FW Achilleas Vasiliou 8 April 1991 (1991-04-08) (age 20) 4 0 Doxa Katokopia FW Marcos Michael 13 June 1991 (1991-06-13) (age 20) 1 3 Anorthosis Famagusta FW Pieros Sotiriou 13 January 1993 (1993-01-13) (age 18) 4 0 Anorthosis Famagusta

Recent Callups

Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest Call-up GK Andreas Kittou 9 September 1990 (1990-09-09) (age 21) 0 0 Enosis Neon Paralimni v.  San Marino, 29 March 2011 DF Rafael Panayiotou 18 June 1991 (1991-06-18) (age 20) 2 0 Enosis Neon Parekklisia v.  Germany, 9 August 2011 DF Lambros Fylaktou 16 June 1991 (1991-06-16) (age 20) 3 0 APOP Kinyras v.  Belarus, 7 October 2011 DF Demetris Economou 10 November 1992 (1992-11-10) (age 19) 0 0 Enosis Neon Paralimni v.  Germany, 9 August 2011 MF Adamos Hadjigeorgiou 18 September 1992 (1992-09-18) (age 19) 1 0 Anorthosis Famagusta v.  Bosnia and Herzegovina, 10 October 2011 MF Christoforos Charalambous age=9 July 1992 (1992-07-09) (age 19) 1 0 AC Omonia v.  Belarus, 7 October 2011 MF Ioannis Chadjivasilis 26 April 1990 (1990-04-26) (age 21) 2 0 AC Omonia v.  Germany, 9 August 2011 FW Charalambos Demosthenous 16 April 1990 (1990-04-16) (age 21) 2 1 AEP Paphos v.  Germany, 9 August 2011 FW Stamatis Pantos 22 March 1990 (1990-03-22) (age 21) 4 0 Enosis Neon Parekklisia v.  Germany, 9 August 2011 FW Onisiforos Roushias 15 July 1992 (1992-07-15) (age 19) 2 0 Enosis Neon Paralimni v.  Belarus, 7 October 2011

See also

• Cyprus national football team
• Cyprus national under-17 football team
• European Under-21 Football Championship

External links

• CFA.COM.CY U21 - Cyprus Football Associsation Official Page
• UEFA.COM - Cyprus U21 National Team