Marios Neophytou ( el, Μάριος Νεοφύτου; born February 4, 1977, in

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

) is a retired

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

and current football manager.

Club career

He began his career in 1993, playing for AEL Limassol. He remained to AEL until 1999, when he was transferred to Anorthosis. In his last season in Anorthosis, after having a successful season with his team and playing in all the Championship matches for his team scoring thirty three goals and becoming the top scorer in the season 2002-2003. Then he caused the interest of the Greek team OFI and he transferred there in the summer of 2003. The next season, he returned in

, to

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

where in three seasons he scored 26 goals. In June 2007 he signed with

AEK Larnaca AEK Larnaca FC ( el, AEK; for short Αθλητική Έvωση Κίτιον Λάρνακας , translit=''Athletiki Enosi Kition Larnakas'', "Athletic Union Kition of Larnaca") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Larnaca. The club ...

. In 2008, he signed for Nea Salamina and then for

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia ( el, Ολυμπιακός Λευκωσίας, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus and competes in the Cypriot First Division. The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cy ...

in 2009. He then moved to

APOP Kinyras Peyias APOP Kinyras FC ( el, ΑΠΟΠ, Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Ομιλος Πέγειας Κινύρας, ''Athlitikos Podosfairikos Omilos Pegeias Kinyras'', "Athletic Football Club Peyia Kinyras") was a Cypriot football club fro ...

. Afterwards he signed to

Akritas Chlorakas Akritas Chlorakas ( el, Ακρίτας Χλώρακας) is a Cypriot football club based in Chloraka, Paphos. The club was founded in 1971, and currently plays in the Cypriot First Division. Akritas' colours are green and white, and they play ...

in 2010 where he played for one year as a player and became the season's top scorer of the club.

International career

On 15 November 2000, Neophytou made his debut with the national team of Cyprus in the home victory 5–0 against

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

for 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification match, coming on as a substitute in 74th minute.

Coaching career

In 2011, he became also the coach of Akritas team and continued also as a player. In June 2012, Neophytou signed with

APEP Apep, also spelled Apepi or Aapep, ( Ancient Egyptian: ; Coptic: Erman, Adolf, and Hermann Grapow, eds. 1926–1953. ''Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien''. 6 vols. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buch ...

, becoming their new coach/player. In April 2013, he undertook

Ayia Napa Ayia Napa ( el, Άγια Νάπα tr, Aya Napa, ), officially romanised Agia Napa, is a tourist resort at the far eastern end of the southern coast of Cyprus. Etymology The name Ayia Napa is derived from a Venetian-era monastery of the same ...

, again with double role, so as to help the team to gain the promotion in the Cypriot First Division but in October 2013 left the club to join AEL Limassol as caretaker manager and later as an assistant manager by the side of the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Ivaylo Petev. In November 2014, after Ivaylo Petev was sacked, Neophytou was also released from AEL.

References

External links

* 1977 births Living people Cypriot footballers Cyprus international footballers Association football forwards Sportspeople from Limassol Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players AEL Limassol players APOEL FC players OFI Crete F.C. players Olympiakos Nicosia players AEK Larnaca FC players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players APOP Kinyras FC players APEP FC players Ayia Napa FC players Cypriot First Division players Super League Greece players Cypriot expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Cypriot football managers Akritas Chlorakas players Ayia Napa FC managers {{cyprus-footy-bio-stub