Civil servants, bankers, an unemployed electrician plus a handful of journeymen professionals combined on Saturday to deal Spain a harsh lesson in soccer commitment.

The Cypriots - many of whom get up for training at 6 a.m. ahead of a day at work - turned in the performance of their lives to bring the world's 80th-ranked country their most famous victory.

Milenko Spoljaric, the Apollon Limassol midfielder, was the outstanding player for the home side, setting up one goal and scoring the third and Sinica Gogic, a professional with Greek side Olympiakos, also made the scoresheet.

But Cyprus were set on their way by Panayiotis Engomitis, whose delicate chip over the Spanish goalkeeper sent the crowd into raptures- - and gave his side a crucial 1-0 lead going into half-time. Engomitis combines playing for Anorthosis Famagusta with a civil service job.

Goalkeeper Nicos Panayiotou, and defensive trio Charalambos Pittas, Nicos Charalambous and Dimitris Ioannou all play soccer part-time at their Cypriot clubs but managed to turn in far better displays than big-name defenders such as Barcelona pair Sergi Barjuan and Miguel Angel Nadal.

Rafael Alkorta, the veteran Spanish centreback, said: "We couldn't do anything against them. They were better than us, it's as simple as that."