MATCH PRESS KITS GSP - Nicosia Tuesday 30 September 2014 20.45CET (21.45 Local Time) APOEL FC Group F - Matchday 2 AFC Ajax Last Updated 07/12/2017 14:36CET
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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - 2014/15 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS GSP - Nicosia Tuesday 30 September 2014 20.45CET (21.45 local time) APOEL FC Group F - Matchday 2 AFC Ajax Last updated 07/12/2017 14:36CET UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OFFICIAL SPONSORS Previous meetings 2 Match background 3 Squad list 5 Head coach 7 Match officials 8 Fixtures and results 9 Match-by-match lineups 12 Group Standings 13 Competition facts 15 Team facts 17 Legend 19 1 APOEL FC - AFC Ajax Tuesday 30 September 2014 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia Previous meetings Head to Head No UEFA competition matches have been played between these two teams APOEL FC - Record versus clubs from opponents' country APOEL FC have not played against a club from their opponents' country AFC Ajax - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Van der Vaart 33, 0-3 27/09/2001 R1 Apollon Limassol FC - AFC Ajax Nicosia Ibrahimović 66, agg: 0-5 Wamberto 79 Ibrahimović 2, 20/09/2001 R1 AFC Ajax - Apollon Limassol FC 2-0 Amsterdam Machlas 56 European Champions Clubs' Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Georgiou 10, 4-0 07/11/1979 R2 AC Omonia - AFC Ajax Nicosia Demetriou 15, Kaiafas agg: 4-10 38, 55 Lerby 4, 28, 44, 72, 74, Krol 55 (P), 24/10/1979 R2 AFC Ajax - AC Omonia 10-0 Amsterdam Arnesen 59, Blanker 66, 81, 87 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA APOEL FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 AFC Ajax 2 2 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 3 0 1 15 4 2 APOEL FC - AFC Ajax Tuesday 30 September 2014 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia Match background APOEL FC will face Dutch opposition for the first time when they host AFC Ajax in their second Group F fixture. Match background APOEL • Beaten narrowly at FC Barcelona on matchday one, APOEL won both of their home games in the qualifying rounds – 2-0 against HJK Helskinki and 4-0 against Aalborg BK. • At home in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage APOEL lost to Eintracht Frankfurt (0-3), beat FC Girondins de Bordeaux (2-1) and drew with Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (0-0). • The Cypriot club's combined home record from their two previous UEFA Champions League campaigns is W3 D1 L4 (qualifying not included). Ajax • Ajax opened their campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Paris Saint-Germain. • They lost three of four away games in UEFA competition last season. In the UEFA Champions League, they are on a seven-game winless streak on their travels, stretching back to a 2-0 victory at GNK Dinamo Zagreb in October 2011. • On their last visit to Cyprus, Ajax won 3-0 at Apollon Limassol FC to complete a 5-0 aggregate success in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup first round. • Ajax's second biggest victory in UEFA competition was against Cypriot club AC Omonia – 10-0 in Amsterdam in the 1979/80 European Champion Clubs' Cup second round. They lost the second leg 4-0 in Cyprus. Coach and player links • Giorgos Donis was in the Panathinaikos FC team beaten by Frank de Boer's Ajax in the 1995/96 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Panathinaikos won the first leg 1-0 in Amsterdam – Donis himself set up the goal after a 40-metre break from inside his own half – but Ajax responded with a 3-0 victory in Athens. Edwin van der Sar, now marketing director at Ajax, also played. • De Boer's Netherlands won 4-0 at the GSP Stadium in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Cyprus on 7 October 2000. • Marc Overmars, now Ajax director of football affairs, and Van der Sar played with De Boer in that 2000 Nicosia qualifier and again in the Oranje's 4-0 win in the Eindhoven return. • Kolbeinn Sigthórsson hit Iceland's first goal in a 2-0 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over a Cyprus side including Constantinos Charalambides, Stathis Aloneftis, Nektarios Alexandrou and second-half substitutes Pieros Sotiriou and George Efrem in Reykjavik in October 2013. • Efrem was in the Omonia team that defeated ADO Den Haag 3-1 on aggregate in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, winning the first leg 3-0 at the GSP Stadium. • Viktor Fischer and Sotiriou each scored twice in Denmark's 6-2 home win over Cyprus in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship elite round in May 2012. Lucas Andersen and Kostas Artymatas also played. • Striker Nikos Machlas won domestic league and cups with both Ajax and APOEL. Match facts APOEL • APOEL have won five of their last seven games in all competitions, the exceptions the 1-0 loss to Barcelona on matchday one and Saturday's 0-0 home draw with AEL Limassol FC. • John Arne Riise provided two assists on his debut as APOEL won 3-1 at Ayia Napa FC on 20 September. • Pieros Sotiriou scored his first goal for APOEL against Ayia Napa. • At home, APOEL were the strongest team in the Cypriot top flight last season, winning 15 of their 18 games and losing just once. • Stathis Aloneftis, Constantinos Charalambides, George Efrem, Nektarios Alexandrou and Marios Antoniades all featured in Cyprus' shock 2-1 UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying win away to Bosnia and Herzegovina in September. Ajax • Ajax have not managed to avoid defeat over the first two UEFA Champions League matchdays this century in eight previous attempts. 3 APOEL FC - AFC Ajax Tuesday 30 September 2014 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia • Kolbeinn Sigthórsson got off the mark for Ajax this season with a hat-trick – his first for the club – and also missed a penalty in a 5-2 victory at NAC Breda on Saturday. • The NAC win was the Amsterdam side's third away victory in a week, scoring 15 goals in the process. • Arek Milik scored six as Ajax beat amateur Amsterdam side JOS Watergraafsmeer 9-0 on 24 September in the Dutch Cup round of 64. • Milik joined an illustrious band of players to score six in one game for Ajax, with Luis Suárez (2009), Marco van Basten (1985) and Klaas Bakker (1955). The club record is seven, scored by Piet van Reenen against SC Veendam on 3 April 1932. • Goalkeeper Diederik Boer celebrated his 34th birthday with his competitive first-team bow against JOS Watergraafsmeer. Queensy Menig marked his debut with a goal. • The JOS Watergraafsmeer match took place at the Olympisch Stadion, Ajax's first game there since 3 April 1996, when they lost 1-0 to Panathinaikos FC in the UEFA Champions League semi-final. The Dutch side won the second leg 3-0. • Viktor Fischer has been out with a hamstring injury since 23 February. • De Boer became the first coach to win four successive Dutch league titles last season. • Richairo Zivkovic has signed a two-year contract extension, tying him to the club until summer 2019. 4 APOEL FC - AFC Ajax Tuesday 30 September 2014 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia Squad list APOEL FC Current season All-time UCLQ UCL League UCL UEFA No. Player Nat. DoB Age D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers 22 Dionisios Chiotis GRE 04/06/1977 37 - - - - - 1 - 20 - 65 - 78 Urko Pardo ESP 28/01/1983 31 - 4 - 1 - 4 - 6 - 21 - 88 Tasos Kissas CYP 18/01/1988 26 - - - - - - - - - - - Defenders 3 João Guilherme BRA 21/04/1986 28 - 4 - 1 - 5 - 1 - 30 - 5 Carlão BRA 19/01/1986 28 - 4 - 1 - 3 - 1 - 7 - 6 John Arne Riise NOR 24/09/1980 34 - - - - - 2 - 73 3 119 7 15 Marios Antoniades CYP 14/05/1990 24 - 4 - 1 - 3 - 1 - 6 - 23 Tasos Papazoglou GRE 24/09/1988 26 - 2 - - - 2 - 1 - 4 - 25 Andreas Christofides CYP 14/10/1992 21 - - - - - - - - - - - 28 Mário Sérgio POR 28/07/1981 33 - 4 - 1 - 5 - 1 - 37 3 44 Nicholas Ioannou CYP 10/11/1995 18 - 1 - - - - - - - 1 - 73 Kaká BRA 16/05/1981 33 - - - - - 3 - 4 - 22 - Midfielders 4 Kostakis Artymatas CYP 15/04/1993 21 - - - - - 3 - - - 1 - 7 George Efrem CYP 05/07/1989 25 - 3 - - - 4 - - - 18 1 8 Tiago Gomes POR 19/08/1985 29 - 4 - 1 - 4 - 5 - 18 - 10 Constantinos Charalambides CYP 25/07/1981 33 - 3 - 1 - 2 1 17 1 78 8 11 Nektarios Alexandrou CYP 19/12/1983 30 - 1 - - - 2 - 10 - 65 6 16 Vinicius BRA 16/05/1986 28 - 4 2 1 - 4 - 1 - 15 2 21 Gustavo Manduca BRA 08/06/1980 34 - 2 - 1 - 5 4 13 4 59 10 26 Nuno Morais POR 29/01/1984 30 - 4 - 1 - 3 - 18 - 60 2 31 Vasilios Papafotis CYP 10/08/1995 19 - - - - - - - - - - - 46 Stathis Aloneftis CYP 29/03/1983 31 - 1 1 1 - 4 1 1 - 39 4 Forwards 9 Cillian Sheridan IRL 23/02/1989 25 - 4 3 1 - 5 1 4 - 21 4 20 Pieros Sotiriou CYP 13/01/1993 21 - 1 - - - 2 1 - - 5 - 30 Tomás De Vincenti ARG 09/02/1989 25 - 4 3 1 - - - 1 - 5 3 79 Rafik Djebbour ALG 08/03/1984 30 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 11 2 31 7 Coach - Giorgos Donis GRE 29/10/1969 44 - 4 - 1 - - - 1 - 23 - 5 APOEL FC - AFC Ajax Tuesday 30 September 2014 - 20.45CET (21.45 local time) Match press kit GSP, Nicosia AFC Ajax Current season All-time UCLQ UCL League UCL UEFA No.