Tonight at APOEL Nicosia's GSP Stadium, Maccabi Tel Aviv have the opportunity of making history on the European stage. Time to have a closer look at the venue
Not for the first time in its 14 year history, GSP Stadium in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia will tonight host Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club. In the 2005/06 season, Maccabi were drawn for a two-leg encounter with APOEL Nicosia in the qualifying rounds of the now moribund UEFA Cup. The first leg was played on November 8th 2005 at GSP Stadium, where a lone goal by APOEL striker Marios Neophytou defeated a Maccabi side who failed to find an equaliser. In the return leg in Israel a goal by Maccabi striker Roi Dayan sent the game into extra time, during which three goals were scored. Unfortunately for Maccabi, two of them were struck by APOEL and the aggregate went in the visitors' favour, dumping the home side out of the competition.
But the Israeli connection to GSP Stadium goes farther than Maccabi's visit in 2005. When the security situation made playing home matches in Israel impossible, first Hapoel Tel Aviv in the 2001/2 season UEFA Cup quarter finals against AC Milan, and then Maccabi Haifa in the season 2002/03 group stage of the Champions League, played their "home" matches in Nicosia. Because it is the only stadium approved by UEFA for that purpose, the GSP Stadium is now reserved for Cypriot sides only, who play all of their home European ties there. No surprise then that the colours worn by spectators at the stadium, which has a capacity of 23,000, change as often as the matches do. When the Cypriot national team play, it's the blue-and-white that dominate. That turns to green when APOEL's municipal rival AC Omonia Nicosia play their matches, as well as for Olympiakos Nicosia FC, who last season were relegated to Cyprus' Division B1.
GSP Stadium is situated in the southern district of Nicosia, some six kilometres from the city's centre. It forms part of a large sports complex, which includes an athletics field right next to the stadium itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNs9RM0azk&feature=c4-overview&list=UU-oWQqnf8B8a_TsmVi0mTUg
