Anorthosis Famagusta have become the first Cypriot team to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League! This after a hard fought qualification round against Olympiakos of Greece, which the Cypriot team won 3-1 on aggregate, they are now on course to play against 3 of the biggest teams in Europe.
The team originally from Famagusta, in the occupied zone of the island, more than matched the threat of the Greek side and even created a few of their own chances which would have put the game out of Olympiakos’ reach. However the Greeks fought back hard in the second half and were rewarded with an early goal from Belluci. However thanks to the heroics of the Anorthosis goalkeeper, Arian Beqaj, Olympiakos were denied any further goals.
The sounding of the final whistle sparked island-wide celebrations with more than 4,000 fans making their way to the Larnaca International Airport and waited till 5:30 AM to welcome home their heroes.
Now Anorthosis are scheduled to play against Inter (Italy), Bremen (Germany) and Panathinaikos, who are Olympiakos’ arch-rival in the Greek league.
Here are the dates of the games for their group :
16/09/08 – Bremen vs Anorthosis [ 0 – 0 ]
16/09/08 – Panathinaikos vs Inter              [ 0 – 2 ]
*01/10/08 – Anorthosis vs Panathinaikos
22/10/08 – Inter vs Anorthosis
22/10/08 – Panathanaikos vs Berner
04/11/08 – Berner vs Panathinaikos
*04/11/08 – Anorthosis vs Inter
26/11/08 – Inter vs Panathinaikos
*26/11/08 – Anorthosis vs Berner
09/12/08 – Panathinaikos vs Anorthosis
