Ethnikos Achna FC

Infobox football club
clubname = "Ethnikos Achna"


fullname = Ethnikos Achna
nickname =
founded = 1968
ground = Dasaki Stadium, Achna

capacity = 7,000
chairman = flagicon|Cyprus Kikis Philippou
manager = flagicon|Belgium Stéphane Demol
league = Cypriot First Division
season = 2007-08
position = 7^th
website = http://www.achnafc.com Official Page
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Ethnikos Achna ( _el. Εθνικός Άχνας) is a Cyprus football club based in the village of Achna. The club was founded in 1968. The club's president is Kikis Philippou. Ethnikos Achnas plays in the Dasaki Stadium, which has a capacity of 4,000 seats. It is currently used mostly for football matches and was built in 1997. It was the only Cypriot team to qualify for the UEFA Cup via the Intertoto Cup.

History

The club played in the Cypriot Second Division until 1983 when it was promoted to the Cypriot First Division but immediately relegated. Ethnikos was promoted to the First Division again in 1986 and stayed there for four seasons. Another two years in the Second Division ended with promotion to the First Division in 1992, where Ethnikos Achna have remained since.

The team's best overall national ranking is fourth in the 1994/95, 1997/98 and 2006/07 seasons. The club participated in the Cypriot Cup final once in 2002, where they were beaten by Anorthosis 0-1.

European Competitions

Ethnikos Achna played five times in the UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008. Four times they were eliminated in the first round. However, in 2006 Ethnikos managed to win the UEFA Intertoto Cup and be one of the eleven winners of this year competition. After eliminating the Albanian team KF Partizani (winning at home 4-2 and losing away in Albania 2-1), they faced the Croatian team NK Osijek and tied both matches, the first leg in Osijek 2-2 and the second 0-0, becoming the only Cypriot team to advance to the third round of the Intertoto Cup. They exceeded this achievement by beating Maccabi Petah Tikva FC with a 2-0 victory away and a 2-3 loss at home, becoming one of eleven competition winners and progressing to the UEFA Cup second qualifying round.

In the UEFA Cup, Ethnikos eliminated K.S.V. Roeselare with a 2-1 loss in Belgium and a 5-0 victory in Cyprus, qualifying for the first round. They were eliminated by RC Lens after drawing the first leg at home (played in the Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia) 0-0 and losing 3-1 in France. Because of the success in Intertoto Cup, Ethnikos was awarded by Sports Journalists Union of Cyprus as the Sports Team of the Year of 2006. At the end of the same season, Ethnikos placed in the fourth position again and returned to the Intertoto Cup.

Current squad

Transfers 2008/09

In

Out

Former Players

*flagicon|Czech Republic Petr Vlček
*flagicon|Armenia Arthur Voskanyan
*flagicon|Cape Verde Nilton
*flagicon|Cyprus Stavros Georgiou
*flagicon|Liberia George Gebro
*flagicon|Serbia Milos Adamović
*flagicon|Serbia Milan Belić
*flagicon|Serbia Dragan Isailović
*flagicon|Serbia Aleksandar Kocić
*flagicon|Serbia Leo Lerinc
*flagicon|Serbia Dusan Radojević
*flagicon|Serbia Ljubiša Vukelja
*flagicon|Slovenia Željko Mitrakovič

Major Honours and Trophies

*Cypriot Cup:
**Runner-up (1): 2002

*Cypriot Second Division:
**Champions (2): 1986, 1992

*UEFA Intertoto Cup:
**Winners (1): 2006

External links

* [http://www.achnafc.com Official site]