By Andreas Vou
Cyprus put in a brave effort on Tuesday night but fell just short in their bid to make the playoffs of Euro 2016, losing out 2-3 to Bosnia and Herzegovina when only a win on the night would have been enough.
Pambos Christodoulou made just one change to the side which pulled off that major upset over Israel at the weekend with the veteran APOEL midfielder Constantinos Charalambides replacing Andreas Makris.
An expectant crowd turned up in hope of a historic Cyprus win but were swiftly brought down to earth by an early Bosnia goal. Haris Medunjanin’s sweeping left-foot strike flew beyond the outstretched Antonis Georgallides to deflate the home faithful.
On 25 minutes, Vevad Ibisevic was gifted a golden chance to put Cyprus’ hopes beyond them but instead hit the outside of the post from ten yards out.
In the very next attack, an equally big chance was then presented by Bosnia keeper Asmir Begovic as an inswinging free-kick from Vincent Laban was carelessly fumbled by the Chelsea stopper but Nestoras
Mitidis was slightly slow reacting and Begovic was able to palm his shot away for a corner.
However, just six minutes later, another mistake from Begovic would not go unpunished. Some good play out on the left touchline played Giorgos Efrem through and the APOEL winger’s tame shot was fumbled straight into the path of Charalambides who had the simple task of tapping the ball into the net.
Then came the moment that would send the home fans into raptures. A smart reverse pass from Jason Demetriou fed Constantinos Makrides down the right side who whipped the ball towards the near post. And while he wasted a much easier chance moments earlier, Mitidis made amends with a well-taken finish to spark genuine hope of making the playoffs.
With half-time looming, Christodoulou would have been urging his men to keep it tight in order to go into the break with a goal lead. Yet the visitors piled on the pressure and the Cypriot defence was unable to cling on. Senad Lulic’s devilish cross found Medunjanin alone at the back post who tucked the ball away to bring the game level.
So it was back to square one for Cyprus, who knew only a win would do. The announcement over the loud speaker that Belgium had taken the lead over Israel was met by a huge cheer from the crowd as the latter had to lose for Cyprus to progress, but it was the visitors who seized the advantage.
Stealing in behind Marios Antoniades was substitute Milan Djuric, who rose powerfully to head the ball beyond the helpless Georgallides to put a huge dent in Cyprus’ cause.
A nail-biting 20 minutes lay ahead for Cyprus. Efrem had the chance to set up a grandstand finish soon after but his hesitancy in the penalty area allowed Spahic to get back in position and make a vital block just as he was about to pull the trigger.
Dossa Junior scored against Israel on Saturday but the defender blazed his header over the bar with five minutes to go, which was Cyprus’ last real attempt on goal.
In the end, it was a case of what might have been for Cyprus, but Christodoulou and co put in a truly valiant performance throughout the campaign which brought genuine hope of qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in the nation’s history, which deserves the utmost credit.
