Cyprus boss Pambos Christodoulou remained upbeat ahead of his side’s opening Group B Euro 2016 qualifier on Tuesday away to Bosnia despite his side going down 2-0 to Croatia on Thursday night in Pulis.
Two easy tap-ins in each half from Atletico Madrid forward Mario Mandzukic secured the easy victory for Croatia who could have added more to their tally with some better finishing front of goal. They take on Malta in their Group H on Tuesday.
“We had far more positives than negatives despite the defeat,” the former AEL and Olympiakos Nicosia coach told reporters after the game. “This game was to give some of the players in the squad some minutes under their belts.”
Christodoulou had said before the game that he would be using the friendly to give some playing time to players who have yet to feature properly for their clubs and his makeshift side – which included starts for Anorthosis teenager Andreas Makris, out-of-favour Apollon centre back Angelis Charalambous, Ayia Napa midfielder Giorgos Aresti, AEK Larnaca right back Lefteris Mertakkas and back-up APOEL midfielder Costakis Artymatas – struggled to cope with the Croatian pressure.
The hosts immediately began testing Omonia keeper Antonis Georgallides – who is now the Nicosia club’s number two keeper after Jose Moreira – with Real Madrid’s Luka Modric, newcomer Andrej Kramaric and Mandzukic all making their presence felt. The broke the deadlock on 18 minutes when, following a quick break, both Valentinos Sielis and Angelis Charalambous lost the players they were marking and Mandzukic easily turned in Kramaric’s run and cross.
Their second goal came just before the hour when APOEL’s third choice keeper Tasos Kissas – who replaced Georgallides at halftime – made a poor save from a shot from outside the area to allow Mandzukic the easiest of rebounds.
Christodoulou threw in his more experienced players in the second half in a bid to end the island’s shocking drought, which has now seen them go nine international games (858 minutes) without scoring an international goal, with Metalurh Donetsk’s Constantinos Makridis, FC Sion striker Demetris Christofi and APOEL winger Stathis Aloneftis all being introduced late.
In fact, Aloneftis scored Cyprus’ last goal back on October 16, 2012 when he registered in a 3-1 defeat at home to Norway.
Christofi missed Cyprus’ best chance with ten minutes remaining when his powerful header from close range was brilliantly saved by Monaco keeper Danijel Subasic. Cyprus had previously missed other several chances to score through Constantinos Charalambides – after his goal bound effort was deflected for a corner – and Aloneftis.
The game was marred by the late injury to experienced left back Elias Charalambous who hobbled off clutching his knee. He is set to undergo a fitness test but is likely to miss the game in Zenica on Tuesday. Christodoulou’s other left back, APOEL’s Marios Antoniades, is also not 100% match fit leaving APOEL winger Nektarios Alexandrou as the only possible option available.
Croatian boss Niko Kovac added: “The new players showed they deserved a call in the national team, they left good a impression and I want to congratulate them for that. We won 2-0, I am satisfied with the performance and our victory and now we are turning to the match against Malta.”
Apart from Bosnia, Cyprus will also face Belgium, Israel, Wales and Andorra in their qualifying section.
Cyprus Weekly
