Omonia will take on either Montenegro’s Buducnost or San Marino’s Folgore in the second qualifying round of the Europa League next month following the UEFA draw yesterday in Switzerland.
The Nicosia club – which finished fifth last season – will travel away for the first leg and will most likely face the Montenegrin side with San Marino’s expected to put up little resistance.
Omonia boss Costas Kaiafas (photo) will likely cross swords with former Olympiakos Nicosia defender Goran Perisic who spent one season at the Nicosia club between 2001 and 2002. The 37-year-old, who was assistant coach at the club before being promoted to first team coach of Buducnost, has also played for Larissa and Ethnikos Asteras in Greece but has spent the majority of his career playing for Buducnost where he made almost 200 appearances for the side.
Omonia are likely to underestimate their opponents having watched Anorthosis Famagusta crash out of the Europa League second qualifying round at the hands of another Montenegrin side, Petrovac, just one year after they made headlines by reaching the group stages of the Champions League.
Kaiafas has also been forced to let key players go this summer as the club continues to buckle under enormous debts that almost saw Omonia miss out on Europe altogether last season. Some of the key players to exit include Cypriot international midfield attacker Georgios Efrem – who moved to APOEL, centre back Joao Paulo who made the switch to Apollon Limassol and Maltese international forward Andre Schembri who has joined German side FSV Frankfurt.
Other players to move on include Spanish defender Jose, Portuguese playmaker Nuno Assis, Cape Verde winger Platini, United States winger Tony Taylor and Nigerian defender Rasheed Alabi.
Now working with a budget some €2.5million slimmer than last year, Kaiafas has nonetheless been busy this summer bringing in new recruits. They include Doxa Katokopia’s Gaossou Fofana, Rodri and Giorgos Economou, Cypriot international keeper Antonis Georgallides – who returns back to the club, Former Anorthosis midfielder Cristovao from Levski Sofia, Apollon’s Spanish forward Roberto as well as Georgians Shota Grigalashvili, Ucha Lobjanidze and Levan Kakubava.
Kaiafas has also snapped up Cypriot under-19 international Jack Sammoutis – who was last non-league Margate – as well as fellow Cyprus youth internationals Stavros Christoudias, Andreas Frangeskou, Fanos Katelaris, Constantinos Panagi and Marios Demetriou.
Last year, Omonia exited the third qualifying round of the Europa League after 3-2 aggregate defeat to Romania’s Astra.
Buducnost had faced Nea Salamina in an Intertoto Cup tie during the mid-nineties. They game had finished 1-1 in Larnaca.
The other Cypriot teams in the Europa League are Ermis Aradippou – who start in the third qualifying round and Apollon Limassol who will enter the playoffs. Champions APOEL and runners-up AEL will take part in the Champions League third qualifying rounds.
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