Anorthosis eager to heal old wounds

Former goalkeeper Nicos Panagiotou hopes Anorthosis Famagusta FC can avenge a ten-year old loss against Olympiacos CFP as Cyprus awaits the Greek champions.

Old wounds
Temuri Ketsbaia's title-holders have already knocked out FC Pyunik and SK Rapid Wien as they battle to become the first Cypriot side to compete in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Anorthosis have come within a tie of the group stage several times, losing out to Rangers FC twice as well as Hertha BSC Berlin, K. Lierse SK, RSC Anderlecht and, in 1998/99, Olympiacos when they went down 2-1 in Piraeus and 4-2 at home.

Costly error
"There were two things that cost us in the game; lack of European experience and over-enthusiasm," Panagiotou told uefa.com. "After getting the away goal in the first leg, we went ahead in the second leg at home. We got carried away when we scored first because we all felt that we were close to qualifying for the group stage but after Olympiacos equalised we just fell to pieces."

Seasoned signings
However, the 37-year-old, now director of the Anorthosis football academy, has high hopes for the current squad. "Anorthosis today have far more players that have that experience of playing big European games," he said. Certainly, when it comes to top-level experience, the signings of 34-year-old midfielder Sávio, a UEFA Champions League winner with Real Madrid CF in 2000, and 32-year-old central defender Traianos Dellas, a rock in the Greece team which won UEFA EURO 2004™, can do no harm.

Natural destination
Dellas has followed in the footsteps of Greek stars such as Nikolaos Machlas, Christos Kontis, Mihalis Kapsis, Marinos Ouzounides, Spyros Marangos and Konstantinos Frantzeskos in moving to Cyprus. That is a sign of the close footballing and cultural ties between the two countries, with Cyprus' best young players also seeing nearby Greece as their most natural destination. "Football in Cyprus and Greece will always have a kind of special bond because a lot of Cypriots have some Greek in them," explained Panagiotou. "Almost every Greek Cypriot has a second team he or she supports in Greece and we see how Greek Cypriots rally behind the Greek national team at major tournaments. That is a bond which will always be there.

Growing strength
"We have seen a big influx of popular Greek names coming to Cyprus because the level of football on the island has made such big strides forward," he added. "In the past we may have seen big names from Greece feel a little tentative about moving to Cyprus but that isn't a worry for them anymore. That is in itself a testament to just how well football on the island is doing."