EURO U17 – CYPRUS VS SERBIA PREVIEW

With a failed attempt to surprise a few people in the opener against the Czech Republic, Cyprus will aim to get their first points on the board tonight against Serbia. The Balkans, beat Ukraine in their opener with one goal to nil, after a quick goal from midfielder Dusan Makevic of Partizan, after just two minutes of play.

After the wake-up call on Monday, the Cypriot national team, will look to maybe change their approach going into tonight’s battle with the Serbs, since they would certainly want to avoid a second humiliation in their home turf. In terms of tactics, it is unlikely that Chrysis Michael will change much in his starting XI. The players who had a good showing against the Czech Republic, LWB Michalas, RW Evangelou, CM Chrysostomou and FW Ioannou, will try and carry their teammates to a strong performance and a better showing. In regard to Serbia, it was interesting to everyone that there were only five people on the bench rather than the usual nine, against Ukraine. However, the aggression and passion of the Serbian side earned them a hard-fought victory and they would like to make tonight’s game an even more comfortable win. With already three points on the board, a second victory tonight will 99% confirm their participation in the last 8 of the competition and with the first place being the clear goal, they would like to achieve this win with a high goal difference against the much weaker side of Cyprus.

With the expected line-ups to be pretty much the same as their first game (other than a couple of changes in the Cypriot line-up) we should expect an aggressive game with plenty of cards being shown, the position being primarily on Serbian hands and the search for an early goal by the visitors.

What should Cyprus do in order to avoid the easy mistakes that were made against the Czech Republic, is to stop insisting on playing out from the back in every situation as the opposing press seemed to force unnecessary and easy mistakes. A player who needs to take more balls in his own half, is deep playmaker Argyris Chrysostomou, one of the few in this Cypriot side with the ability to move the ball forward and create problems.

Of course, we will be in Antonis Papadopoulos to review, analyse and support the efforts of our fellow countrymen as we hope to see a different outcome from the previous game. PAME KYPROS!