Cyprus’ hopes of securing a top two finish in Group E lies in tatters after Nicos Nioplias’ side suffered a 3-1 reverse at home to Norway on Tuesday night.
The defeat, which come days after the island went down 2-1 in Slovenia, leaves Cyprus bottom of their 2014 World Cup qualifying group with just three points from four matches and they must now beat group favourites Switzerland in March next year to retain any realistic hope of a playoff finish.
At the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca, Norway scored two goals in the final ten minutes to walk away with a win but things could have been different had Cyprus converted many of their earlier chances into goals.
The hosts took a deserved lead through APOEL forward Stathis Aloneftis but the Norwegian visitors hit back just before the interval after skipper Brede Hangeland took advantage of Tasos Kissas’ half clearance before late goals from Tarik Elyounoussi – a penalty after Elias Charalambous was judged to have pulled down Joshua King in the box – and Manchester United forward King saw the Scandinavian visitors steal all three points.
Cyprus had earlier missed good scoring opportunities through George Efrem – who struck the woodwork twice, Demetris Christofi and Stathis Aloneftis.
The defeat also marked the island’s eighth defeat at the hands of Norway in eight encounters.
Greek coach Nioplias believes his side’s defeat was due to refereeing mistakes as well as bad tackling that went unpunished by the Polish match officials. “We played well in the first half and if we had managed to keep the 1-0 going into halftime, then things would have finished differently.
“Due to refereeing mistakes and Norwegian rugby tackling in the second half, the end result left us with a bitter taste in our mouths. The second goal was not a penalty and they had fouled our keeper for their equaliser.”
He added, “The defeat has left us lagging behind in the group. The result was decided by refereeing decisions.”
The other group games saw Switzerland beat Iceland 2-0 away while Albania beat Slovenia 1-0 in Tirana.
Cyprus Weekly