APOEL makes biggest jump in world rankings in 2011

IN 2011 Nicosia football club APOEL made the biggest jump in the club world rankings of the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

APOEL, which became the first-ever Cypriot team ever to progress to the final 16 round of the Champions League, currently ranks 47th on the IFFHS list. At the start of 2011, APOEL ranked 119th.

The Nicosia club closed the year with 158 points, just behind Bayern Leverkusen.

Top of the rankings for 2011 was FC Barcelona with 367 points, followed by Real Madrid with 312, Vélez Sarsfield with 271 and Manchester United with 270.

AEK Larnaca ranked 118th with 116 points, following the club’s progression to the group stage of the Europa League.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.