Cyprus got their UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite Round campaign underway with a crunching 6-2 defeat at the hands of hosts Denmark on Wednesday night.
Apostolos Makrides’ side had surprised many to reach elite round of the competition after drawing with Norway and Iceland before beating Latvia 2-0 in their final group game to seal their place in Denmark.
The other game in the other group between Greece and Turkey ended in a 3-0 victory for the Greeks.
Cyprus were the underdogs heading into the game against their Danish hosts and their job was made harder on six minutes when Frederik Jensen put Denmark in front. Uffe Bech made it 2-0 just before halftime before Olympiakos Nicosia striker Pieros Sotiriou reduced the deficit to 2-1 just after the restart.
The celebrations lasted barely three minutes as Nicolai Brock-Madsen made it 3-1 but Cyprus skipper Sotiriou scored again from the penalty spot after he was fouled in the area by Christoffer Remmer.
Any hopes of a comeback where dashed when Jensen snatched his second and Denmark’s fourth on 66 minutes before Viktor Fischer scored two more on 78 and 92 minutes to seal an emphatic 6-2 win for Denmark.
The defeat means that Cyprus now have to beat Greece in their next group game on Friday in Gentofte while at the same time hope that Denmark fail to beat Turkey in the other group game in Brondby.
Cyprus Weekly