http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/champions-league-apoel-is-the-little-team-that-could/#h[]
By
ANTHONY MANNINO
Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias, or Apoel as it is known across Europe — more widely than ever these days — is
the club from the island of Cyprus that is slowly showing the world it can play soccer with anyone.
While Apoel does not have the same rich history as Barcelona or Real
Madrid, after finishing first in its Champions League group like those
clubs, Apoel has the confidence to face anyone.
“Apoel definitely cannot be compared
with all these giant football clubs,” the team’s Cyprus-born midfielder
Constantinos Charalambides said in an email exchange. “However we will
compete” with any opposing club, he added, because of the team’s
newfound confidence.
Apoel’s claim to fame before this
season was a 2-2 tie against Chelsea during the group stage in 2009. The
tie, at Stamford Bridge in London, came on the last matchday of group
play, with Chelsea already assured of advancing. Nevertheless, it was an
impressive result and a sign of things to come.
Skip ahead two years and Apoel again
found itself in the Champions League, this time in a group with last
season’s Europa League winners, Porto; the 2010-11 quarterfinalist
Shahktar Donetsk; and Zenit St. Petersburg. Apoel’s mission was to prove
the earlier result at Chelsea was not a fluke.
“The fact that we ended up in the
first place of our group was not a matter of luck, but it was the result
of a steady performance in all the games of the group stage,”
Charalambides said. “We have shown team spirit, passion, discipline and
great effort.”
Apoel’s shocking run into this year’s Round of 16, where it will play at
Olympique Lyon on Tuesday, might have been a surprise to the rest of
the field, but it was expected in Cyprus. Having won 21 first division
titles, Apoel is the Cypriot equivalent to Manchester United. A few wins
in the Champions League gave the club the confidence it needed to
believe it could thrive at such a level. With that confidence, the
players did not just excel, they shocked their critics by becoming the
first Cypriot club to advance to the round of 16 and win a Champions
League group.
Apoel’s astonishing journey could have
been a brief one, though. After losing the first leg of its Champions
League play-in to Wisla Krakow, 1-0, Apoel got a 3-1 win at home and two
crucial goals from the Brazil-born Ailton to advance.
“The fact that we turned it to 3-1 has
proved that Apoel players are strong characters, disciplined and with
full confidence during the game,” Charalambides said. “That didn’t
happen once but repeated in the home games against Zenit and Porto as
well.”
The confidence from the aggregate win
over Wisla Krakow carried over into the group stage. This time it was a
2-1 comeback win over Zenit, with goals from the Brazilian tandem of
Manduca and Ailton — the first win for Apoel in Champions League group
play. The winning goal was set up by a perfectly weighted through ball
from Gustavo and a curling finish by Ailton.
Confidence grew after back-to-back draws away from home against Porto and Shakhtar put Apoel in first place in the group. The club had a one-point advantage over Zenit and Porto going into its fourth match. A loss against Porto would have opened the group, but a win would give the club control of its destiny.
An early penalty kick by Ailton gave
Apoel the lead, but Hulk responded with a penalty in the 89th minute to
tie the score. It seemed the match was heading down the usual path in
soccer, a last-second win for the bigger club, but Charalambidis had
other ideas. His first-time cross in the final minute found Gustavo, and
the Brazilian buried the chance.
“I think the goal against Porto here
in Nicosia was the most important and exciting because it made us dream
even with the qualification for the 16,” Manduca said.
Apoel now only needed a point in St.
Petersburg, Russia, to become the first Cypriot club to advance to the
round of 16. The club tied Zenit, 0-0, on an emotional day, one that was
especially so for Charalambidis.
“It was, for me, a moment which I
will never forget in my entire life,” he said. “I don’t know if a
Cypriot team will succeed in the forthcoming years to qualify in the 16
best clubs in Europe and be the first of the group.”
Added Manduca: “I think Apoel has won
the respect of the big teams. At this point we believe that anything
can happen, and who knows if God-willing we can still go a little
further.”
The odds of Apoel’s winning the Champions League
are long.
But coming into the group stage, it was viewed by many as a speed bump
for Porto or Shakhtar. Instead, Nicosia has proved a fortress; Apoel has
a record of 4-1-1 in Champions League at GSP Stadium, where Lyon will
visit in three weeks in the return leg.
“We know a lot of people believe we will easily win against Apoel,”
Lyon Coach Rémi Garde said. “Of course, it’s not our opinion.”
Lyon is right to be wary of a club out to prove wrong the naysayers who remain.
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