Cyprus hosts 12th International Football Tournament

 The Cyprus Football Association is hosting the 12th International Football Tournament, comprising the national teams of Cyprus, Serbia, Ukraine and Slovakia.

Cyprus will face Serbia tomorrow (19:00 local time -1700 GMT) at Nicosia's GSP Stadium, while Slovakia will face Ukraine at Limassol Tsirio stadium. On Wednesday, February 11, the winners of the two matches will clash in the Tournament's final (19:00 GSP stadium), and the losers will meet at Tsirio (19:00) for the third place.

Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of the first meeting of the Cypriot team in 2009, Angelos Anastasiades coach of the Cypriot national team said that the tournament provides an opportunity for an assessment of the Cypriot team's status in view of the matches in June for the qualifying phase of the 2010 World Football Cup.

''The teams participating in the tournament are very close to the football style of the teams we will face in the qualifying round of the World Cup,'' Anastasiades said.

On June 6 Cyprus, in Group 8 of the European region, will face Montenegro.

Cypriot team's Captain Giannakis Okkas said that the atmosphere in the squad is fantastic, adding ''we are ready to give our best.''