The Cyprus Futsal Championship begins on Thursday 16th September with three games being played, and finishes on Friday 17th with another two games the most notable of which is the matchup between Parnassos Strovolou who finished runners up last season and the champions of 2008-09 Omonoia Nicosia.

Cyprus College vs AGBU Ararat
Cyprus College play hosts to last years champions hoping to spring a surprise on the current double holders. Frixos Pieri's team is largely unchanged from the side that won promotion last season with the notable addition of Giorgos Kyriacou from GC School. As for the reigning champions, Ara Bedrossian's team has undergone some changes from last season with the departure of Olegs Matvejevs who has moved to Polish side Red Devils and Robert Ursell who moved to AEL Limassol.
The team has been bolstered by the addition of two Romanian internationals, Zoltan Mihaly and Lorand Szocs, Cyprus international Costas Christodoulou from GC School, as well as promising young cypriot talent Constantinos Andreou. Ararat are strong favourites to take all 3 points here and anything else would be a huge shock.

AEL Limassol vs SPE Strovolou
Newly promoted AEL Limassol have made sufficient changes to their roster with the hope that with these new faces and the help of their vociferous home crowd they can make a move into the top 4 teams in the league. The additions of Aleksander Topalo (Omonoia Nicosia), Armen Danielyan (Parnassos Strovolou & AGBU Ararat), Pambos Demetriou (Pafiakos & Parnassos Strovolou) and Robert Ursell (AGBU Ararat) will mean at their best AEL will be a match for any team in the league. A lot will depend on team chemistry but with a pre-season friendly win over Parnassos Strovolou everyone in Limassol is confident that they can begin the season with a bang. As opposed to the many changes that have taken afoot at AEL, SPE Strovolou are a largely unchanged squad with good young talent in the form of Constantinos Kouloumbris and their 2 Latvian internationals, Arty Kolesnikovs and Serg Nagibins helping them to survival in the top flight last season. The departure of Cyprus international Koullis Mavroudis for Omonoia was a big blow as he was an integral part of the team that survived last season but having managed to keep hold of last seasons goalkeeper Angelos Sakkas the team will have every chance of moving in the right direction. This season Marios Charalambous is hoping to push the team further up the table so this first test of the season against a very good home side will possibly determine where SPE will finish this season.

PAEEK Asteras vs APOK (University of Cyprus) In the final game of Thursday newly promoted PAEEK Asteras take on the University of Cyprus who gained a reprieve after being relegated last season with the dissolution of Pafiakos allowing them to remain in Division 1. PAEEK Asteras have been weakened by the departure of last season's top scorer Vassos Andreou and although they have added former Omonoia Nicosia captain Andreas Aresti to their ranks their chances of survival in the top division are slim. The University of Cyprus are a largely unknown commodity with players going through what seems to be a revolving door, this season again will be one of struggle for the University. The points will most likely head to PAEEK Asteras for a much needed first win but when you are battling against relegation from your first game you know the season will be a long one.

Parnassos Strovolou vs Omonoia Nicosia
In the first of two games taking place on Friday two of the favourites for the title will go head to head. The home side are another team which is largely unchanged from last season with the only departure being Armen Danielyan (AEL Limassol) but with the addition of Cyprus international Lambros Vasiliou, Andreas Pissis' men hope that they can make the step up from 2nd to 1st this season. The only worry for the hosts is that they are an ageing team although in Sergiu Tacot the team has one of the best foreign players in the league. On the opposing bench is a coach that Parnassos dreads to see in the form of former AGBU Ararat coach Karol Costanian. With a huge following of fans Omonoia are hoping to rectify a poor finish to last season that saw them finish in 3rd after beginning the season so well, qualifying for the Main Round of the UEFA Futsal Cup and beating champions Ararat on their home ground. Omonoia boasts having 2 of the three national team goalkeepers, namely Tassos Skambilis and Odysseas Odysseos and host of other internationals. Mr Costanian has managed to convince French international Mustapha Otmani to stay on and help the team this season but also the arrival of Victor Marinha will help bolster Omonoia's attacking options. The match promises to be tight affair with both teams desperate to start the season with 3 points and bragging rights and I for one would say it's too close to call!

Leivadiakos vs Achilleas Kaimakliou
The first round of games end in Larnaca where the local side will host Achilleas Kaimakliou who took the place of the dissolved GC School with both teams looking to get off to a good start. The hosts having made several additions to their team most notably Konstantinos Poliviou (AGBU Ararat) and their 2 Spaniards, Jordi Ellia and Jose Baena, will be desperate to show the rest of the league that they are a team to be reckoned with. They will face stern opposition as Leivadiakos are no pushovers, now playing their 4th consecutive season in the top flight and without any big transfers or changes to their roster. This matchup will be a good indication for where both teams' seasons will be heading.





Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com