APOEL’s Journey - a film by Tyler Maag.

Anytime a video (about anything, really) begins with music from Sigur Rós, you can assume it will be either amazing or horribly pretentious. In this case, the former is justified. The Republic of Cyprus has a population of about one million people. APOEL Nicosia, of the Cypriot first division, is the country’s most successful club. This season they became the first Cypriot club to progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They defeated the likes of Zenit St. Petersburg, FC Porto, and Lyon before falling to Real Madrid. It was a remarkable journey for anyone who had the pleasure of following their unlikely success.

Oh, and what does APOEL stand for you ask? Well… “Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας = Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias = Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia.” The club was founded 85 years ago by 40 people in Nicosia that wanted to create a club that would represent the Greeks living in Cyprus’s capital.

Given the ever-growing divide between the haves and have-nots in European football, it’s unlikely the we’ll see “minnows” like APOEL make this kind of run deep anytime soon. So here’s to APOEL and nostalgia…