By Panos Bletsos

They come from a country barely larger than the state of Delaware, mostly known across Europe for its long, adventurous history and famous as a tourist destination. Their national team has never qualified for a major finals and none of the Cyprus’ club sides has ever progressed further then the second round of any continental competition. And yet, halfway through the group stage, APOEL are more and more looking like the team to beat in the Champions League. How is this possible?

The Cyprus football association affiliated with UEFA in 1962 and its member clubs entered international play a year later, only to experience disaster. Taking on superior opposition, virtually no Cypriot team avoided a number of embarrassing defeats for the best part of two decades. Pezoporikos were destroyed 11-0 at the hands of Swedish outfit Malmö FF and EPA Larnakas, who later merged with their city rivals to form AEK, lost 16-0 on aggregate to Borussia Mönchengladbach, while neighbours Alki were demolished 12-0 by Dinamo Bucharest in the tie. Olympiakos Nicosia were slaughtered 14-1 over two legs by Real Madrid, 17-0 by Feyenoord and 13-0 by Stuttgart. Their cross-town neighbours Omonoia were thumped 13-0 overall against Bayern Munich and 10-0 on the night versus Ajax Amsterdam, which was also the scoreline in the two worst ever European defeats in the history of Anorthosis – in 1964 against Sparta Prague and again in ’83 when they visited Bayern.

Don’t think that APOEL somehow escaped that fate. In their maiden international campaign they were hampered 16-1 on aggregate at the hands of Sporting Lisbon in 1963 and by the end of that decade they suffered 10-1 defeats against not so fancied opponents – Scottish side Dunfermline Athletic and Belgian outfit Lierse. In fact, they were downed by an 8-0 scoreline by Deportivo de la Coruña as recently as 1995. But that was another millennium.

Climbing up the ladder

It was around that time that things started to change, as Cyprus slowly but steadily stepped up the European football hierarchy. In 1994 Anorthosis nearly knocked Athletic Bilbao out of the UEFA Cup and then, in the 2008-’09 season, they consecutively beat Armenian side Pyunik, Austrian powerhouse Rapid Vienna and Greek giants Olympiakos Pirea in the qualifiers, in so becoming the first Cypriot side to ever reach a Champions league group stage. It was that feat which arguably inspired their domestic opposition. APOEL aspired to follow into their footsteps – and they did.

Three years ago, Anorthosis drew both of their group games against Werder and at home (actually, in Nicosia and not their adopted home in Larnaca) against Internazionale. They were still in with a chance until the very last game, but their 1-0 defeat at Panathinaikos left them fourth – albeit with six points to their name. APOEL followed suit. A year later, they brushed aside lowly Streymur from the Faroe Islands, Serbian giants Partizan and Danish dynamite Copenhagen to make the group stage themselves. In their maiden voyage they ended up fourth, but still managed to draw twice against Atlético Madrid, who went on to claim the Europa league crown and 2-2 at Chelsea, a few months before the English side won the Premiership and FA Cup double!

Rising to the occasion

APOEL is the most successful club within the Cyprus borders, boasting a trophy cabinet with 52 pieces of domestic silverware, is celebrating its 85th anniversary on November 8. And it looks like they could celebrate it on top of their group G standings, against three of the last four Europa League winners – and against all odds. While Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit had all secured their place in the final phase, Ivan Jovanović’s charges had to claw their way into the group stage through not one, nor two, but three qualifying rounds. And they did it in style. Starting mid-July, they beat Albanian champions Skënderbeu by a 6-0 aggregate margin, Slovakia’s dominant force of Slovan Bratislava without even conceding and Polish champions Wisła Kraków in dramatic fashion to make it this far, two years after their first participation.

Needless to say the odds were heavily stacked against the Cypriots. Ranked as low as 28th among the 32 teams, they were largely expected to finish rock bottom of their group. Besides, APOEL have an annual budget of just 11.4 million USD and a market value of 24.1 million – only the Czechs of Viktoria Plzeň, Romanian outfit Oțelul and Belarusian club BATE are thought to be worth less in this Champions league proper, whereas reigning champs Barcelona are the most expensive side of them all at an estimated 859.7 million! Instead, the underdogs came from behind to beat Zenit 2-1 before snatching one-all draws at both Shakhtar and Porto and thus lead the group at the halfway point of the stage, in what is arguably the competition’s biggest surprise so far.

Re-writing the history books

The question is now: can they do it, can they reach the last 32? No Cypriot side has qualified for the second round of the former Champions Cup since 1991-’92, when Apollon Limassol was beaten 5-1 overall by Red Star Belgrade. APOEL themselves were there five years earlier, but they refused to play Beşiktaş in the first time ever Cypriots were drawn against Turks in a European competition, drawing a hefty UEFA punishment. History is – needless to say – not on their side. With the exception of perennial Norwegian champions Rosenborg and their Scandinavian neighbours Copenhagen, who did it last season, no outsiders have ever survived the group stage since the 1992 inception of the Champions league.

Some came close, of course. In ’96-’97 Swiss powerhouse Grasshopper beat Glasgow Rangers and Auxerre at home and triumphed 1-0 in Amsterdam, but on the last matchday they lost at home by the same scoreline to Ajax and finished third, even though they amassed nine points. Two years ago Unirea Urziceni overcame Sevilla at home and Rangers away, only to lose that elusive second spot at the expense of Stuttgart when the Germans beat them 3-1 in their last game – the Romanians ended up third on eight points. Maccabi Haifa (2002-’03), Slovakian side Petržalka (’05-’06), Danish club AaB (’08-’09) also notched up third place and went on to contest the Europa league, which could also be noted as a success.

But neither Jovanović nor his players are thinking about anything below second place right now. Although they still have to visit Saint Petersburg on November 23, two of their three remaining fixtures are at their GSP home fortress. And with the kind of form they’ve displayed so far, it’s probably their guests who should feel more worried. Cyprus is a land with a rich history, dating back to the 10th millennium BC. Perhaps the time for football to add a few pages has finally come.