in-cyprus 8 September 2023 - by Stelios Marathovouniotis
Cyprus will host Scotland at the AEK Arena in Larnaca tonight at 9:45 p.m. for the qualifiers of the EURO 2024.
The national team will try to grab its first points in the tournament, after three losses to Georgia, and Norway as well as an away 3-0 defeat to Scotland at Hampden Park.
Meanwhile, the visitors who sit atop the group with four wins in four games and just one goal conceded, want to extend their streak and all but secure their qualification to the finals in Germany.
“Scotland have already qualified as far as I am concerned. I don’t know if they will win the group, but I am sure they will qualify. We have watched all their games and they have been better than all the opposition. They have 12 from four games on a very tough group, so they must be a very good team,” Cyprus boss Temuri Ketsaia said in a press conference.
“I’m not surprised at this. When you see the quality of their players – many of them from the Premier League – and they have a very good coach who has so much experience and he has done a great job,” he added.
Ketsbaia is hoping Scotland will struggle with the weather, as temperatures will be over 30 degrees at kick-off. He said: “It’s not as hot as it was a few weeks ago, but we still hope that the conditions affect the Scots more than they do us. It’s always great to play in a full stadium, but we also know there will be a lot of Scottish fans here, as there always are when they come here, so maybe the whole atmosphere will be friendly to us.”
Cyprus has won just four of its past 30 competitive matches – two of its past 16 European Championship qualifiers on the island – and lost all eight of the previous meetings with Scotland.
The match will be broadcast on CyBC1 in Cyprus and Viaplay Sports 1 in the United Kingdom.
