Cyprus national team manager Akis Mantzios appears to have the faith of the Cypriot Football Association (CFA), but is the Greek head coach making a meaningful difference?
Previously, I had written two articles hailing incoming managers who could turn the fortunes of the Cypriot national team around, and at every single juncture, I was proved terribly wrong.
First, there was Nikos Kostenoglou. I stated in my blog back in 2021 that the Greek manager’s more pragmatic and counter-attacking style fit Cyprus better than his predecessor, Johan Walem, after his side had a solid first three games, in which his side drew with Slovakia, narrowly lost 1-0 against Croatia, and beat Slovenia 1-0.
He then proceeded to oversee a ten-game winless run, eight of them defeats, including an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Malta and a 6-0 defeat against Russia. Other than a 2-0 win against Estonia in the relegation round of the UEFA Nations League, to keep Cyprus in League C, it was a pretty demoralising tenure, and Kostenoglou departed in mid-2022.
Next was his successor, Temur Ketsbaia, a coach who already had experience managing in the Cypriot First Division, having managed APOEL and Anorthosis twice, winning the league title and Cypriot Cup, both on two occasions, plus the Cypriot Super Cup during his two tenures with the Famagusta side.
In my 2022 blog, I cited his successes in the domestic league, as well as previously managing the Georgian national team, as a combination of circumstances that could make him a good fit to return to Cyprus and turn them into a more competitive team again on the international stage. Wrong, again.
His first match resulted in a surprising but highly-contestable 1-0 win over Greece, and while Cyprus also defeated Israel away 3-2, he oversaw one of the most disappointing periods in the recent history of the national team, both regarding performances and results.
Albeit in a very hard UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying group and with Cyprus being the smallest of the five nations in Group A, there was still no excuse for the manner in which they competed, or failed to compete, over the campaign. No wins, no draws, and eight defeats, 28 goals conceded, and three goals scored, which was as many as San Marino managed in their respective group.
This was a far cry from a team that, while not expected generally to qualify for a major tournament, was always lauded for being a competent and sometimes tough team to face, particularly at home. They had become the very stereotype they had previously debunked, a minnow team.
Minnow tactics, minnow attitude on the pitch and a defeatist playstyle that reduced Cyprus’s top internationals to performing far below what they were capable of, with Ketsbaia favouring a five-at-the-back formation consistently.
His final two games in the 2024/25 edition of the Nations League resulted in a 1-0 win in Lithuania and a crushing 4-0 defeat at home against Kosovo. In September 2024, the Georgian coach mercifully resigned from his duties.
After the brief tenure of Sofronis Avgousti, which culminated in the Cypriot resigning to manage Apollon Limassol, we now return to the present day with Akis Manztios.
The former manager of Aris, Panionios, Asteras Tripolis, and Levadiakos has, over the last 14 months, impressed so far in charge of Cyprus and was even handed a contract extension until 2029 in March by the Cypriot FA. But why do I, and other followers of Cyprus, believe that things could be different under the 56-year-old? (…before writing about a new dawn for Cyprus for the third time inevitably leads to the same outcome as two of his predecessors).
Improved performances since Mantzios’ arrival
Even after only 12 matches, there has been a clear and visible change in how Cyprus approach teams, no matter the difference in quality.
While only three of those games resulted in wins, of which two were against San Marino, there is a broader context to the performances without just looking at the final scores. Even against the likes of Romania and Austria, who had both qualified for UEFA Euro 2024, there was a fight and a steeliness to Cyprus that had long been missing for nearly a decade.
My biggest criticism of Cyprus before the Greek coach arrived was that Cyprus’s passing had no intent behind it. There was never a thought process of how to progress the ball up the pitch quickly, with the more defensive styles implemented culminating in hit and hope tactics, or if the players did play it short to one another, there was not a huge amount of communication which resulted in passing for passing’s sake.
With Manztios consistently setting up in his favoured 4-2-3-1, he has always seemingly attempted to play to the strength of the individuals at his disposal rather than worrying about their limitations. Suddenly Cyprus now look much more dangerous on the counter, with the pacy duo of Loizos Loizou and Marinos Tzionis providing the threat on either flank, plus the passing ability of Grigoris Kastanos in midfield and Ioannis Pittas up front, who was one of Cyprus’s most consistent goalscorers in 2025.
This was especially evident in their matches against both Austria and Romania where there is an argument to suggest they were unfortunate not to take more points off them.
Away at the Raiffeisen Arena only a very dubious penalty given by VAR prevented Cyprus from taking a point back home with them. When hosting Romania, which ended 2-2, only a huge missed opportunity from Pittas in the dying embers of the game prevented Mantzios’ men from completing an emphatic comeback from two goals down. However, it did effectively end Romania’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup.
Lastly, when 2-1 down to Bosnia and Herzegovina on matchday seven, the team still continued to search for an equaliser without their heads dropping and, after a penalty was given deep into stoppage time, Pittas converted to earn a draw.
There was not one instance during those eight matches where you felt as though Cyprus were thrashed and sent home with their tails between their legs. They stood up to the tests and re-established themselves as a potential banana skin opponent for bigger nations under Mantzios, even finishing on a respectable 0 goal difference in their FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying group, a huge improvement over -25 during their Euro 2024 qualification campaign.
What still needs to change?
While there has been a huge improvement in the overall performances of the national team both in their play and their mentality, there are still issues that need ironing out for Mantzios to contend with before the Nations League resumes in September 2026.
While both the attack and defence has improved, there have been lapses at both ends of the pitch which have still cost Cyprus draws or even wins. Starting with the attack, the threat is there, the intent to score is back, but the final ball or a moment of hesitation is sometimes still holding the team back.
As noted in the aforementioned 2-2 draw against Romania, perhaps if given the chance, Pittas finishes the last opportunity of the game to earn a famous 3-2 comeback victory. At the end of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Cyprus had an xG (expected goals) of 13.7 meaning they underperformed their actual tally of 11 goals.
That may not be a huge difference, but when looking at their points tally of eight after eight matches, it surely could have been more based upon their effort.
But that’s football. Statistics are not always the be all and end all, but they are, at the very least, an interesting insight.
The defence is where the biggest issue still lies however. This may seem hypocritical because I have already spoken of how the defence has dramatically improved in 14 months, and that is still true. But is not the quantity of goals that Cyprus have conceded, is it the moments of madness that led to gifted goals to the opposition.
While the 2-2 draw with Romania was an impressive comeback, the manner in which Cyprus went 0-2 initially was very avoidable. The same could be said for the 2-2 draw with Bosnia and for their last fixture of 2025, a 2-4 defeat at home to Estonia, the worst result of Akis Mantzios’s tenure thus far.
Although the latter result came in a friendly match, it was still inexcusable that Cyprus went 2-0 up, only to lose to a side at home in that manner, especially with opposition striker Rauno Sappinen scoring a ten minute hat-trick in the second half.
So while there has been a very stark change to the national team over the last year or so, there is still plenty to improve on.
Even during the International break in March, both the best and worst of Manztios’ Cyprus side was highlighted against Belarus and Moldova.
A poor first half in the GSP Stadium when hosting the Belarusians saw another silly goal conceded from falling to clear the ball from a corner and the resulting header by Ivan Tikhomirov. An improved second-half yielded little more than a couple of close calls with Kastonos’ freekick hitting the post the best chance of the game for the hosts.
The Moldova match was the complete opposite. A near perfect 45 minutes where Kastanos scored early and Charalampos Charalampous bagged a brace resulted in Cyprus going into half-time 3-0 up. But then near capitulation followed.
Credit goes to Mantzios, who was clearly trying to work on the teams defensive frailties. But instead, Cyprus started to lose control of the game when the visitors pulled two goals back and could possibly have been given a penalty late on.
What should our expectations be for Cyprus?
Now that Mantzios has been in charge of the national team for an extended period and he has got to know his players and implement his tactical approach, the next step, at least in my opinion, is to aim for promotion to Nations League B.
The next two friendlies scheduled for June must be used to iron out the kinks in Cyprus’s game and prepare for September. Armenia, Montenegro and one of either Latvia or Gibraltar – depending on who wins the relegation playoff tie this month – are all very beatable opponents for Cyprus.
If they can build on the good work from last year and in March, they can certainly finish at least top two in their group. There is even a small chance (speaking in a hushed voice) of getting themselves a UEFA Euro 2028 play-off place if they are one of the best-ranked Nations League teams that have not already qualified directly.
Anything is possible.
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