AFTER waiting 44 years to win the Cyprus championship, AEL are now looking to write another chapter in the Limassol club’s history by winning the double for the first time when they take on Omonia in the Coca-Cola Cup final on Wednesday evening at 7pm at the GSP Stadium in Nicosia.
“It is a final and we want to win it. I have said several times before that the best two teams have reached this stage of the competition and that the better and luckier team on the night will go home with a trophy,” AEL manager Charalambos Christodoulou said.
“For all of us at AEL our next target is the cup and we will do everything we can to obtain it and make our supporters proud again.
“We have had many tough games this season and this is now the last one ahead of us, so we know what we need to do. I hope we will lift the trophy,” he concluded.
Christodoulou said he was relieved that none of his players were injured during what he said were wild title celebrations over the weekend in Limassol, but Portuguese midfielder Jorge Monteiro is definitely out, while vice-captain Stelios Parpas is doubtful through injury.
Omonia manager Neophtyos Larkou meanwhile should have the majority of his players available for the first time in several months as both influential forward Freddy and Christos Karipidis, who recovered after a blow to his knee in the city derby against APOEL, could be set to feature. Leandro is also now officially fully fit after playing 61 minutes in the final match of the championship – a dress rehearsal against AEL on Saturday that the Greens won 1-0
The only dilemma Larkou has is over the selection of Efstathios Aloneftis who is the only player who did not fully train ahead of the match. The experienced forward may only be named as a substitute, with in-form Georgios Efrem, Demetris Christofi and Andreas Avraam looking for places in the starting lineup.
German referee Felix Brych, who took charge of the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona, will be the referee.
Brych is familiar with Cypriot football as he refereed APOEL’s match against Porto in 2009 in Portugal as well as two of their games this season, against Zenit in St Petersburg and their final Champions League match against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu
Cyprus Mail