Our national U-21 team has completed its matches in the qualifying round of the European Championship K-21, and attention is now fully focused on the next tournament.
Efforts to build the team ahead of these new challenges began as early as the final matches of the tournament, which concluded on Tuesday, and Marios Nikolaou fielded a large number of players who will be eligible to participate based on their age.
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“It was a phase where, based on the standings in our group, we had three matches with no real bearing on the standings in this qualifying round. Throughout our last three matches, we focused on preparing for the next tournament, managed each game accordingly, and gave playing time to many younger players.
We have two friendly matches coming up in November in Cyprus, and they’ll be an opportunity to evaluate several players who will be eligible for the next tournament so we can form a better opinion,” Marios Nikolaou stated on the CFF website.
In the final match of the qualifying round against San Marino, our national team won 2-0 in Larnaca and finished its campaign in Group 1 with six points. Spain (which advances to the final round) finished first in the group, followed by Finland in second place, which will play in the playoffs.
“We finished the qualifying phase on a winning note, getting to see several young players in action again. We could have scored more goals if we’d been more focused at certain points in the game. We’ll take the win and keep working until our next matches,” added Marios Nikolaou.
It should be noted that the final phase of the tournament will be hosted by Serbia and Albania, and the draw for the matches will take place on November 26.
Our national team will return to action on November 9, when the next break is scheduled due to UEFA dates for international matches.
Efforts are underway to arrange two friendly matches in Cyprus during the international break, and our opponents will be announced shortly.
