Pafos FC achieved a historic and dreamlike qualification for Pafos and Cypriot football yesterday.
The Cypriot champion completed a dream run in the Champions League qualifiers and qualified for the League Phase of Europe's top club competition, becoming the 3rd team, after Anorthosis and APOEL, to take part in the group stages.
Pafos, with an excellent goal by Zaza, tied Red Star 1-1 in the 89th minute and qualified for the League Phase of the Champions League, as in the first match in Belgrade, the "Paphos" had won at the "Marakana" with 2-1.
The Serbs had taken the lead with a goal by Ivanic in the 60th minute. With this score, the game was headed to extra time, but in the 89th minute the Brazilian footballer from Paphos had a different opinion, and with an incredible goal in terms of inspiration and execution, he equalized and led his team to the "golden" unified group of the Champions League.
The general image of the Paphos team in yesterday's match was not as good as it was in the first match or in the previous qualifying rounds, which was clearly based on the fact that the stress was very great, as they were in a position of favorite for such a big qualification.
In general, Paphos failed to play its own game in yesterday's game and was mainly trying to limit the opponent, and that was perhaps where it went wrong.
However, the most important element of Juan Carlos Carcedo's team's performance yesterday was that after the goal they conceded, they did not collapse, and on the contrary, they managed to improve and in the end, equalize and get the long-awaited qualification.
Now, Pafos is waiting to learn its opponents in the Champions League Group Stage, aiming to enjoy the journey and get as much as possible.
After the match, the team's coach said that "it's a dream, we were hungry, we fought, my players are amazing." Regarding the group matches, Carcedo said that the goal is to enjoy it and do their best.
Regarding his desire for a specific team with which to compete in the League Phase, Mr. Carcedo said that he would like a team from his native Spain.
Pafos' top scorer Zaza stated after the match that he accepts that he is the MVP, while regarding his desire for an opponent in the Group Stage, he said: "I want Liverpool as my opponent, I want to play on their stadium. We want to continue writing history."
Paphos: Michael, Goldar, Lucassen, Pileas (62′ Langa), Bruno (90+3′), Sunic, Dragomir, Pepe, Correia, Orsic (62′ Zaza), Anderson (68′ Basuaminha).
On the bench: Petrou, Papadoudis, Kina, Basuamina, Zaza, Sema, Tankovic, Langa, Pentrao
Red Star: Mateusz, Ivanic (91' Olaginka), Diaje, Velkovic Duarte (55' Arnautovic), Elsnik (91' Katai), Tiknisian, Krunic, Milosavljevic, Seol, Babica (55' Radonic).
On the bench: Glazer, Gutiérrez, Rodrigo, Bagos, Felicio, Milson, Katai, Olaginka, Kostov, Stankovic, Tempo, Ucenna, Radonic, Arnautovic
Scorer: 89' Zaza/60' Ivanic
Yellow: Zaza, Bruno, Pepe/Krunic, Velkovic, Babika, Tiknisian
Red: - / -
Referee: Michael Oliver
VAR: Jared Gillett
