Ethnikos Achna FC

Ethnikos Achnas FC
Full name Ethnikos Achnas Football Club
Nickname(s) Achniotes
Founded 1968 (1968)
Ground Dasaki Stadium, Achna
Ground Capacity 7,000
Chairman Kikis Filippou
Manager Danilo Dončić
League Cypriot First Division
2014–15 7th
Website Club home page

Ethnikos Achna (Greek: Εθνικός Άχνας) is a Cyprus football club based in the village of Achna. The club was founded in 1968. The club's president is Kikis Philippou. Ethnikos Achnas plays in the Dasaki Stadium, which has a capacity of 7,000 seats. It is currently used mostly for football matches and was built in 1997. It was the only Cypriot team to qualify for the UEFA Cup via the Intertoto Cup.

History

The club played in the Cypriot Second Division until 1983 when it was promoted to the Cypriot First Division but was immediately relegated. Ethnikos was promoted to the First Division again in 1986 and stayed there for four seasons. Another two years in the Second Division ended with promotion to the First Division in 1992, where Ethnikos Achna have remained since.

The team's best overall national ranking is fourth in the 1994/95, 1997/98 and 2006/07 seasons. The club participated in the Cypriot Cup final once in 2002, where they were beaten by Anorthosis 0–1.

European Competitions

Ethnikos Achna played five times in the UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008. Four times they were eliminated in the first round. However, in 2006 Ethnikos managed to win the UEFA Intertoto Cup and be one of the eleven winners of this year competition. After eliminating the Albanian team KF Partizani Tirana (winning at home 4–2 and losing away in Albania 2–1), they faced the Croatian team NK Osijek and tied both matches, the first leg in Osijek 2–2 and the second 0–0, becoming the only Cypriot team to advance to the third round of the Intertoto Cup. They exceeded this achievement by beating Maccabi Petah Tikva FC with a 2–0 victory away and a 2–3 loss at home, becoming one of eleven competition winners and progressing to the UEFA Cup second qualifying round and becoming the first Cypriot team to win a UEFA competition.

In the UEFA Cup, Ethnikos eliminated K.S.V. Roeselare with a 2–1 loss in Belgium and a 5–0 victory in Cyprus, qualifying for the first round. They were eliminated by RC Lens after drawing the first leg at home (played at GSP Stadium, Nicosia) 0–0 and losing 3–1 in France. Because of the success in Intertoto Cup, Ethnikos was awarded by Sports Journalists Union of Cyprus as the Sports Team of the Year of 2006. At the end of the same season, Ethnikos placed in the fourth position again and returned to the Intertoto Cup.

Current squad

As of 29 December 2015

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
3 Brazil DF Everton
4 Romania DF Alexandru Iacob
5 Brazil MF Pinceli (3rd captain)
6 Brazil MF Bruno Arrabal
7 Spain FW Carles Coto
8 Cyprus MF Marios Poutziouris
10 Cyprus MF Christos Poyiatzis (Captain)
11 Romania MF Sebastian Cojocnean
13 Cyprus DF Petros Hadjiaros (Vice-captain)
14 Belgium MF Emmerik De Vriese
15 Cyprus DF Symeon Kone
16 Cyprus GK Michalis Panayiotou
17 Georgia (country) MF Elguja Grigalashvili
19 Cyprus FW Ioannis Hadjivasilis (5th captain)
20 Austria MF Thomas Prager (4th captain)
21 Georgia (country) MF Shota Grigalashvili
No. Position Player
22 Republic of Macedonia GK Martin Bogatinov
23 Cyprus GK Zannetos Mytidis
24 Cyprus MF Paraskevas Koui
25 Nigeria DF Ganiu Ogungbe
27 Cyprus DF Giorgos Koushiappas
30 England MF Krasniqi Kreshnic
31 Brazil FW Guilherme de Paula
35 Cyprus FW Marios Elia
40 Cyprus DF Charis Kyriakou
41 Brazil DF Samuel Araújo
43 Cyprus MF Giorgos Papageorgiou
44 Cyprus DF Pavlos Engomitis
45 Cyprus MF Antonis Katsiaris
77 Georgia (country) FW Revaz Barabadze
83 Montserrat GK Corrin Brooks-Meade

For recent transfers, see List of Cypriot football transfers winter 2015–16.

On loan

Out Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
No. Position Player

Honours

Domestic

League

Cups

International

References

  1. The UEFA Intertoto Cup: Past Winners. Listed are all 11 teams that won the Intertoto Cup, qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.