Konstantinos Laifis

Konstantinos Laifis (Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Λαΐφης; born 19 May 1993), sometimes spelt as Constantinos Laifis, is a Cypriot footballer who plays for Belgian First Division A club Standard Liège, and for the Cyprus national team. He previously played in the Cypriot First Division for Anorthosis and Alki Larnaca. He plays as a left winger or at left back.

Konstantinos Laifis
Konstantinos Laifis
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-05-19) 19 May 1993
Place of birth Paralimni, Cyprus
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre back / Left back / Defensive Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Standard Liège
Number 34
Youth career
2007–2009 Enosis Neon Paralimni
2009–2012 Nottingham Forest
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Anorthosis 63 (8)
2013 → Alki Larnaca (loan) 15 (1)
2016–2018 Olympiacos 0 (0)
2016–2018 → Standard Liège (loan) 68 (2)
2018– Standard Liège 67 (4)
National team‡
2009–2010 Cyprus U17
2010–2012 Cyprus U19 8 (0)
2013–2014 Cyprus U21 6 (0)
2014– Cyprus 34 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:48 7 March 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13 October 2019

Early life and career

Laifis was born in Paralimni. As a boy, he played tennis to a good standard, and played football for the junior teams of his local club, Enosis Neon Paralimni. When he was 16, he took up an apprenticeship with English club Nottingham Forest's youth academy, together with several other Cypriot players.[1][2] In his second year, he played increasingly regularly for the under-18 team and scored once as Forest finished second in their section of the FA Premier Academy League.[3] He remained with the club into a third year, but returned to Cyprus in late 2011, where he trained with Anorthosis Famagusta and then agreed a short-term contract with them.[4] His contract with Forest was cancelled by mutual consent,[5] and he formally signed for Anorthosis in the January 2012 transfer window.[6]

Anorthosis Famagusta

Laifis made his first-team debut for Anorthosis the next month, in their 2011–12 Cypriot Cup second round second-leg match against Second Division club APOP Kinyras, as a 61st-minute substitute for Vincent Laban.[7] That was his last competitive appearance until July 2013, when injuries to Valentinos Sielis and Andreas Avraam left a vacancy at left back for pre-season friendlies.[8] Laifis performed well enough to be given a place in the starting eleven for the second leg of the second qualifying round match against Allsvenskan club Gefle. He played the full 90 minutes as Anorthosis let slip a 3–0 lead from the first leg and were eliminated 4–3 on aggregate.[9]

Alki Larnaca

Laifis was loaned to Alki Larnaca early in the 2013–14 season.[10] He made 15 appearances, scoring once, in First Division matches, before returning to Anorthosis in late January 2014.[11]

Return to Anorthosis

Laifis made 10 First Division appearances in what remained of the 2013–14 season,[12] and continued as a first-team regular, with 24 league appearances in the following season and 29 in 2015–16.[13][14]

Olympiacos and Standard Liège

In June 2016, Laifis signed for Superleague Greece club Olympiacos. He said "When Olympiacos makes a move, there is nothing else in a player's mind. It was the best thing for my career. I didn't even have to think twice. I am joining Greece's greatest club."[15] A week later, they loaned him to Belgian First Division A club Standard Liège for two years with an option to purchase.[16] After half season in Standard Liège, the Cypriot defender is one of the most remarkable players till now. In Italy, Sky Sports reports that Laifis is in the viewfinder of three clubs: Fiorentina, Torino and Bologna. Three clubs added to the list that already contained Freiburg and other German clubs. His agent had just declared that the defender felt very good at Belgium and that he could not say more about a possible return to the Olympiacos. "I have not organized his loan to Standard, but the relations between the two clubs are excellent and the Olympiakos is watching him closely."[17] On 1 July 2018, after two successful seasons in Belgian First Division A, Olympiakos sold the international Cypriot defender to Standard Liège on a fee estimated to €1.5 million. Laifis signed a three year contract with the Belgian club.

International career

Laifis represented Cyprus internationally at all under-age levels.[2][18] He helped the under-19 team reach the elite qualification round of the 2012 European championships,[19] and made his first appearance for the under-21s in March 2013, when he played the first half of a 2–0 defeat to Belgium in a qualifier for the 2015 European under-21 championships.[20] He played the whole of their next qualifier, a 3–0 win at home to Northern Ireland,[21] and retained his place for a friendly in Romania.[22]

He made his senior debut on 16 November 2014 in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Andorra. Cyprus won 5–0.[23]

International goals
Scores and results list Cyprus' goal tally first.[24]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 November 2016GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus Gibraltar1–03–12018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.13 November 2017Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia Armenia1–22–3Friendly
3.21 March 2019GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus San Marino5–05–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Club statistics
As of match played 7 March 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Anorthosis 2011–12[12] Cypriot First Division0010—10
2012–13[12] Cypriot First Division00000000
2013–14[12] Cypriot First Division100—1[lower-alpha 1]0110
2014–15[12][13] Cypriot First Division24430—274
2015–16[12][14] Cypriot First Division29440—334
Total 6388010728
Alki Larnaca (loan) 2013–14[12] Cypriot First Division15120—171
Olympiacos 2016–17[12] Superleague Greece————
Standard Liège 2016–17[12] Belgian First Division A3010061362
2017–18[12] Belgian First Division A3815000431
2018–19[12] Belgian First Division A3912[lower-alpha 2]071482
2019–20[12] Belgian First Division A2831060353
Career total 2131518020225117
  1. Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup

References
  1. "2009–2010 Academy Players". Nottingham Forest F.C. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010.
  2. "Academy Players 2010–11 Season". Nottingham Forest F.C. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010.
  3. "Academy Reports 2010–11". Nottingham Forest F.C. Archived from the original on 5 September 2011.
  4. Επένδυσε στον Κωνσταντίνο Λαΐφη [Invested in Constantinos Laifis]. sentragoal.com.cy (in Greek). 29 November 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  5. "List of Scholars Whose Registrations have been Cancelled by Mutual Consent Between 01/01/2012 and 31/01/2012". The Football Association. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  6. Ανόρθωση: Εγγράφεται στην ΚΟΠ και ο Λαΐφης [Anorthosis: Laifis registered with CFA]. balla.com.cy (in Greek). 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 14 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  7. "Anorthosis vs. APOP Kinyras 3–0". Soccerway. Global Sports Media. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  8. Αρπάζει την ευκαιρία ο Λαΐφης [Laifis grabs his chance] (in Greek). 24sports. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  9. "UEFA Europa League 2014: Gefle–Anorthosis". UEFA. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  10. Αλκή: Πήρε ακόμη ένα ταλέντο [Alki: got another talent]. politis-news.com (in Greek). 30 August 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  11. Επέστρεψε ο Λαΐφης [Laifis returned]. kerkida.net (in Greek). 31 January 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  12. "K. Laifis". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  13. ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΣ ΛΑΙΦΗΣ Στατιστικά 2015 [Konstantinos Laifis Statistics 2015] (in Greek). Cyprus Football Association. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  14. ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΣ ΛΑΙΦΗΣ Στατιστικά 2016 [Konstantinos Laifis Statistics 2016] (in Greek). Cyprus Football Association. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  15. Hajiloizis, Mario (30 June 2016). "Olympiacos sign Konstantinos Laifis from Anorthosis". SigmaLive.com. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  16. "Laifis Konstantinos rejoint les Rouches" [Konstantinos Laifis joins the Reds] (in French). Royal Standard de Liège. 9 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  17. "Après la Bundesliga, le Calcio s'intéresse à Laifis" (in French). www.sportsactu.be. 25 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  18. Taylor, Paul (31 March 2011). "Forest's latest investment could be their wisest yet". Nottingham Evening Post. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  19. "Kostas Laifis: Under-19". UEFA. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  20. Scholten, Berend (25 March 2013). "Belgium up and running against Cyprus". UEFA. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  21. "Cyprus ease past Northern Ireland". UEFA. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  22. "Amical: U21 Romania – U21 Cipru 0–2" (in Romanian). Romanian Soccer. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  23. Leonidou, John (16 November 2014). "Efrem powers Cyprus to Andorra triumph". UEFA. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  24. "Laifis, Konstantinos". National Football Teams. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
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