CYPRUS BATTLE BACK FOR DRAW IN BULGARIA

Cyprus earned a hard-fought 2-2 draw in an international friendly away to Bulgaria in Plovdiv. Nikolas Koutsakos in his international debut leveled the match in the first half, and Kostas Laifis rescued Cyprus in the second half. Aleksandar Kolev had both Bulgarian goals, one being from the spot. This was better than Cyprus usually fares against Bulgaria, just their second draw with them in now 17 meetings, one win in 2009, and otherwise, Bulgaria won the other 14. Cyprus will next play on Tuesday in a World Cup qualifier at Romania in Bucharest.

Cyprus visited Bulgaria at Hristo Botev Stadium in Plovdiv. After a tentative start, the first chance fell to Cyprus. Antonio Foti, making his international debut for Cyprus in the country he was born in, with the help of a fortunate bounce found Marinos Tzionis, but Kristian Dimitrov laid out to block the shot.

At the other end, Stanislav Shopov’s free kick was knocked aside by Joel Mall. Shopov tested Mall again from a free kick, this time from a wider position. Mall made the save, and Nikolas Panayiotou won the race and cleared the ball out of harm’s way before Aleksandar Kolev could get to it.

Another Bulgarian free kick led the hosts to change tactic. Shopov instead of taking it on directly crossed it instead, and this time it paid off, Kolev got open and headed it past Mall, 1-0 for Bulgaria in the 27th minute.

Cyprus tried to respond, and eventually Chambos Kyriakou got a shot off, but Svetoslav Vutsov saw it all the way and made a routine save. Cyprus then earned a free kick, but Kyriakou put it into the wall.

Cyprus levelled the match just before halftime. A corner came way out to Kostas Pileas who worked it wide for Ioannis Kosti, who laid off for Kyriakou. Kyriakou then centered it in front, and it was the other debutant who put it home. Nikolas Koustakos in his international debut fired it past Vutsov, and the match was 1-1, which remained the score at halftime.

Cyprus continued to concede free kicks to open the second half. Shopov took one again, and this time it rang off the crossbar. Cyprus then had their own free kick, Kyriakou took it, but it was stopped by Dimitar Sheytanov who had replaced Vutsov in goal for the second half.

A bit of controversy put Bulgaria back ahead, as Christos Shelis blocked a shot, that ricocheted off the arm of Pileas, and Bulgaria were awarded a penalty. Despite Cypriot protests, and with no VAR to review, the decision was final. Kolev stepped up, Mall dove to his left and Kolev put it down the middle, 2-1 Bulgaria on the hour mark.

Mall kept Cyprus in it with a good save to deny Shopov in tight. Marios Ilia did a good job blocking a clearance attempt and was able to force Sheytanov to make a good save. Then Kostas Laifis put a header on target that Sheytanov tipped over the bar.

For the ensuing corner, Laifis got his head on the ball again, and this time he beat Sheytanov, and it was level again at 2-2 in the 86th minute. Cyprus continued to press for a winner, but neither side would get another real opportunity, and the match finished 2-2.

Bulgaria(Ilian Iliev Sr.): 21. Svetoslav Vutsov(GK)(’46 23. Dimitar Sheytanov)(GK), 2. Viktor Popov, 5. Kristian Dimitrov(’79 15. Simeon Petrov), 24. Aleks Petkov, 14. Anton Nedyalkov(Captain), 4. Ilya Gruev, 26. Stanislav Shopov, 22. Ilian Iliev Jr.(’74 8. Andrian Kraev), 10. Bozhidar Kraev(’66 16. Marin Petkov), 17. Georgi Milanov(’66 7. Georgi Rusev), 9. Aleksandar Kolev(’74 19. Vladimir Nikolov)

Cyprus(Apostolos Mantzios): 1. Joel Mall(GK), 2. Kostas Pileas(’78 19. Kostas Laifis), 3. Nikolas Panayiotou, 15. Christos Shelis, 24. Andreas Shikkis, 23. Ioannis Kosti(’46 18. Kostakis Artymatas), 8. Chambos Kyriakou(’59 17. Loizos Loizou), 20. Grigoris Kastanos(Captain)(’59 9. Marios Ilia), 21. Marinos Tzionis(’46 5. Charalambos Charalambous), 25. Antonio Foti(’79 11. Andronikos Kakoullis), 26. Nikolas Koutsakos(’90 6. Giannis Satsias)

Andrew Mantzas

Twitter: @MantzasNC