Ukraine beat Serbia 1-0 on Wednesday to win the 17th Cyprus Football Association international tournament, with Jason Demetriou helping the hosts to prevail over Slovakia in the third-place play-off, according to UEFA News.
Nazarenko volley
Serhiy Nazarenko volleyed home the only goal in the final as Ukraine took the spoils, though both Nenad Milijaš and Miralem Sulejmani had chances to equalise for Serbia. English-born Demetriou, who plays for Leyton Orient FC, shone in the other fixture, helping to set up all three goals as Cyprus won 3-2 against Slovakia. His free-kick led to the penalty from which Christakis Maragkos opened the scoring, then he teed up Marios Nicolaou and Ioannis Okkas for further goals before Robert Jež and Erik Jendrišek struck back late for Slovakia.
Demetriou stars
"We are very pleased with Jason Demetriou," said Cyprus coach Angelos Anastasiadis. "He has shown some great ability. He is disciplined, has a good character and, more importantly, wants to play for us. We have all seen what he has to offer." Demetriou added: "I have been very welcomed by everyone here since I arrived in Cyprus. Things are obviously a little different here but I am happy I chose to play for Cyprus. All the lads back at Leyton Orient are all well chuffed for me."
Slovakia downcast
Demetriou had come on as a substitute in Cyprus`s opener on Tuesday but made little impression as two mistakes in defence allowed Serbia to claim a 2-0 win, with Milan Jovanović and Darko Lazović scoring. On the same day, Slovakia lost 3-2 against Ukraine, with Artem Milevskiy`s penalty seven minutes from time putting Ukraine through to the final. Slovakia were to leave the tournament empty handed, with coach Vladimír Weiss saying: "I feel disappointment and ashamed. Against Cyprus we only played well for five minutes. Maybe I was too optimistic about some players."
