On this list, he is the player with the most impressive stats in terms of goals and appearances. He’s a key player for CSKA Sofia and is often the one who comes through in tough moments.
That’s exactly what happened again with Ioannis Pitta. In the round of 32 of the Bulgarian Cup, the Sofia-based team faced Nesebar—which plays in the country’s second division—on the road. The score was tied at 0-0, and it looked like the game was headed for extra time—until the Cypriot forward made his mark. With a well-taken penalty kick in the 89th minute, he gave his team the lead, and they eventually scored another goal to win 2-0.
Watch the goal at 5:22.
Below is the complete list of Cypriot soccer players competing abroad.
ENGLAND
Marcus Edwards (Burnley): Came on as a substitute in the 75th minute of the 2-1 home loss to Wolves (9 appearances/1 goal/2 assists).
Hector Kyprianou (Watford): Started in the 2-0 home win over Charlton (13 appearances/1 goal).
Nick Tsaroulla (Notts County): Started in the 2-0 away loss to Wycombe (10 appearances/4 assists).
Ruel Sotiriou (Chesterfield): He is injured and was therefore left out of the squad for the 1-0 loss at Port Vale (2 appearances).
Josh Robertson (Fleetwood): He remained on the bench during the 2-0 home win over Rotherham (6 appearances, 1 assist).
ITALY
Grigoris Kastanos (Verona): He was on the bench for the 2-2 home draw against Catanzaro (6 appearances).
GREECE
Ioannis Kostis (Levadiakos): Started in the 0-0 home draw against Volos (7 appearances).
Christos Sielis (OFI): Due to injury, he was not part of the squad for the 4-3 away loss to Kalamata (4 appearances).
Giannis Satsias (Panaitolikos): He is injured and thus missed the 2-0 loss to Olympiacos in Agrinio (5 appearances/1 goal/1 assist).
Ioannis Kousoulos (Kifissia): He was sidelined due to injury during the 2-1 loss to Aris Thessaloniki at Leoforos Stadium (1 appearance).
Andreas Makris (Larissa): Started in the 0-0 home draw against Panserraikos (10 appearances/1 goal/4 assists).
Nikos Koutsoudakis (Ellas Syros): Came on as a substitute in the 76th minute of the 0-0 away draw against Marko (4 appearances).
GERMANY
Antonio Foti (Ferl): Came on as a substitute in the 79th minute of the 2-1 away loss to Hoffenheim’s reserve team (9 appearances/2 goals).
PORTUGAL
Stavros Gabriel (Nacional): Came on as a substitute in the 61st minute of the 1-0 away loss to Sanjoanense in the Portuguese Cup (9 appearances).
Stelios Andreou (Estoril): He was not on the roster for the away victory on penalty kicks against Salgueiros in the Cup (1 appearance).
NETHERLANDS
Nikolas Panagiotou (Utrecht): Started in the 2-1 away win over Twente (5 appearances).
POLAND
Andreas Katsantonis (Piast): Started in the 1-1 home draw against Górnik Zabrze. Substituted in the 68th minute (12 appearances).
Konstantinos Sotiriou (Korona Kielce): Remained on the bench during the heavy 6-1 away loss to Lech Poznan (5 appearances).
Herodotos Christodoulou (Slask Wroclaw): He was not on the roster for the 3-2 away loss to Motor Lublin (6 appearances).
SCOTLAND
Alex Gogic (St. Mirren): Started in the 3-1 away loss to Aberdeen (14 appearances/1 assist).
NORWAY
Nikolas Koutsakos (Start): Came on as a substitute at the start of the second half in the 6-1 away loss to Molde (6 appearances).
ROMANIA
Marinos Tzionis (Arad): Came on as a substitute in the 86th minute of the 1-0 home win over Cluj (13 appearances/2 goals).
Neofytos Michael (Universitatea Cluj): Remained on the bench in the 4-3 home loss to Rapid Bucharest (6 appearances/1 clean sheet).
SERBIA
Loizos Loizou (Red Star Belgrade): He was not on the roster for the 5-1 home win over Mladost (11 appearances/3 goals/1 assist).
BULGARIA
Ioannis Pittas (CSKA Sofia): He came on as a substitute at the start of the second half and scored his team’s first goal in the 89th minute of the 2-0 away victory over Nesebar in the Bulgarian Cup (21 appearances/10 goals/4 assists).
Kyriakos Antoniou (Dunav Ruse): He remained on the bench during the 3-2 away victory over Rilski Sportist (10 appearances).
BOSNIA
Rafael Mamas (Sarajevo): He is recovering from a serious injury and has not made an appearance so far.
ISRAEL
Pavlos Korea (Maccabi Petah Tikva): He remained on the bench during the 2-1 home loss to Maccabi Haifa (3 appearances).
GEORGIA
Paris Psaltis (Dinamo Tbilisi): Came on as a substitute in the 65th minute during the 3-1 home victory over Spari (10 appearances/1 assist).
ARMENIA
Iasonas Pikis (Pyunik): Started in the 1-1 away draw against Noa. He was substituted in the 89th minute (14 appearances/7 goals/3 assists).
*photo source: CSKA Sofia FC
