Anorthosis beating Panathinaikos in the group stage of the Champions League last night, Apoel Nicosia drawing away at Schalke tonight... there must have been some drastic change in Cypriot football to take their top clubs out of the ranks of yer Maltese and yer Icelanders. So, well, what's going on?
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
Now you've got me all concerned. -
What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
once the 'situation' at SJP becomes ahem back to normal...Temur Ketsbaia might be worth consideration as manager...
always supposing Joe Kinnear hasnt got us challenging for Champions League qualification in the meantime of course...Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
Cypriot football has been improving steadily for years, and their national team has been very dangerous at home for 4 or 5 years (ask Wales or RoI fans). The improvement in club form, and in particular their ability to get results away from home is new though.Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
What's the basis for it, though, Etienne? In the past it would have been extraordinary for a team from Cyprus to beat a team from Greece, but this has happened twice this season that I'm aware of.Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
Should we take this as tonights UEFA Cup thread?
Portsmouth are in trouble: 2-0 down at half time in Portugal. Udinese & Borussia Dortmund has gone to penalties, as has Deportivo v Brann.
I love the UEFA Cup. Kick-offs staggered across the day. More exotic an unpredictable than the other European club competition.Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
Udinese are through, despite losing 2-0 at home to Dortmund. Deportivo also through after Brann miss three penalties in the shoot-out.
Other results that stand out are Benfica overturning a goal deficit to beat Napoli, Feyenoord recovering from a first-leg home defeat to overcome Kalmar on away goals, and Stuttgart scoring twice in the last seven minutes to get through against Cherno More.Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
Etienne wrote:
Don't use us as a stick to measure anyone's ability Etienne ... remember Georgia and Moldova!(ask Wales or RoI fans)...Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
is this the thread to talk about portsmouth in portugal?
david james won't be watching this match againComment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
actually he might
james with an excellent save, then crouch scores just before HT of ET
how did portsmouth win the cup final!Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
Impact Substitute wrote:
It might be easy to say that now as there are two-legged knockout ties and when they return again after Xmas but don't forget the abortion of the league stage, made worse by the fact that teams don't play each other home & away. The 3rd place CL group sides dropping in doesn'thelp it either.
I love the UEFA Cup. Kick-offs staggered across the day. More exotic an unpredictable than the other European club competition.
It a clusterfuck of a competition. Portsmouth are through too, shit.Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
It was a nightmare of a day for Romanian football - after good performances from Steaua and CFR Cluj in the CL this week, there was a lot of optimism in the media about how the clubs are on the up and holding their own in Europe. Then yesterday happened - 5 clubs went into the day with a real chance of progressing, and all 5 went out. A complete rout.Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
It's a bit misleading to point to Apoel Nicosia's draw at Schalke as an impressive result without reference to Schalke going into the home-leg 4-1 up.
But Famagusta's draw in Bremen a fortnight ago reinstates the point made about Cyprus' emergence.Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
There are massive volumes of Russian money floating around in Cyprus, which has become the preferred locus for Russian holding companies as a result of a favourable tax treaty.
My guess is that some of this cash has found its way down to the club level, with a resultant increase in clubs' ability to develop and keep talented players, as well as to attract players from abroad (though the number of expats on these teams does not seem to be as high as say CFR Cluj or Shaktar).Comment
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What The Fucking Fuck Is Going On In Cyprus?
There is only one Cypriot in Anorthosis' staring eleven. This might suggest a link to a mass influx of foreign players. Interestingly enough Anorthosis have some fairly high profile Greeks in their ranks, most notably Traianos Dellas.Comment
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