The last friendly of the preparation is given on Thursday (18/7, 20:00) by AEK, which is hosted by Concord in the GSP of Cyprus.
Essentially the game is the Final rehearsal for “Union” ahead of its first official battle in the second qualifying round of the Conference League, next Wednesday (24/7, 21:00) at OPAP Arena.
It is recalled that the “yellow and black” got back to work last Monday (15/7) after the three-day rest that followed their return from the Netherlands, where they carried out the main stage of their preparation in two places (in Alkmaar and Burg-Hamstad) .
There they gave four friendlies, the most…marathons, counting one victory (3-0) against Berschot, one draw (2-2) with Ghent (in their last scheduled match) and two defeats, from Alkmaar (6- 0) and Bruges (4-1).
Since Wednesday (17/7), they are in Cyprus, where they received a warm welcome upon their arrival, while in the afternoon they trained in Limassol. In addition, the fans of the “two-headed” team are expected to be “present” in this friendly match of their favorite team in Cyprus.
The match will be televised from Cosmote Sport 2 HDradioed by News Bulletin 247while there will be live updates from sport-fm.gr.
THE Matias Almeidatherefore, is expected to carry out the final tests (in match conditions) ahead of his team’s first European battle.
At the same time, their possible unofficial debut is interesting Thomas Strakosa and Abu Bakari Look (Alberto Brignoli has already done this).
After all, he did not go to Cyprus Roberto Pereirawhich was decided to continue training in Athens, as well as the Arnold Mukudi and Sotiris Tsilouliswho returned with problems from the Netherlands, while o Steven Zuber has secured a few extra days off due to his presence with Switzerland until the quarter-finals of Euro 2024.
In fact, as soon as they finish the friendly, the “yellow and black” will also know their first opponent this year, as for the 19:00 the rematch between Velez Mostar and Inter Club d’Escaldes, at the seat of the second. It is recalled that the Bosnia game ended in a draw 1-1with the Andorran team making things difficult for the so-called favorites (Inter d’Escaldes took the lead in the 34th minute with Lopez Elo, with Alves Lucio equalizing in the 65th minute).
As for her now Concordlast season finished in 3rd place of the playoffs of the Cypriot championship and at -4 by APOEL and AEK Larnaca (the Nicosia team prevailed in the draw, thus winning the title).
The coach of the “clover” is the former technician of OFI, Valdas Dabrauskaswhile o Yannis Anastasiou he is in the role of Football Strategic Planning Consultant for the club.
Omonia have so far played three friendlies, counting as many defeats without scoring, against Krakow (3-0), Maccabi Tel Aviv (2-0) and Rakow (2-0). Its official duties begin on August 24, hosting the National Achnas for the championship.
Omonia’s squad for the friendly: Fabiano, Uzoho, Kyriakides, Dionkou, Elander, Koulibali, Cipriano, Semedo, Kakoulis, Evandro, Stepinski, Bakic, Masouras, Maric, Simic, Lang, Panagiotou, Kousoulos, Hamas, Andreou, Charalambous, Erakovic, Curtis Jr.
It should be noted that its big star, Loizos Loizou, who returned from his six-month loan from the Dutch Heerenfein, was left out.
The highlights from the last meeting between the two teams, in 2022, when the “yellow and black” prevailed 2-0 (21′ Pineda, in his first goal with AEK and 65′ Mandalos). Again in a summer friendly in Cyprus, in view of AEK’s return season to New Philadelphia, Matias Almeida’s first in the “Union” and which ended with the double for the “doubleheader”:
Source: Sport Fm
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