When Apoel of Nicosia, Cyprus, play Birkirkara tomorrow at Ta' Qali, they will be including two top class foreign midfielders in the form of Australian Paul Okon and Portuguese Ricardo Fernandes among their ranks.

The two have been signed in time for the matches against Birkirkara, with Okon signing in June and Fernandes only last week, just before the UEFA deadline.

Moreover, Apoel are so confident of being able to surmount the Birkirkara obstacle that they have also signed a second Portuguese player yesterday, according to uefa.com. He is Daniel Kenedy who has had spells at Paris Saint Germain in France, and in Portugal with Maritimo, Benfica, Braga and Academica de Coimbra. However, he will be ineligible for the two matches against Birkirkara.

While every local football enthusiast must have heard that Okon has had spells in England with Leeds United, Middlesbrough and Watford, and with Lazio, Fiorentina and Vicenza in Italy, Birkirkara will do well to note that Fernandes has also played for two of Portugal's top clubs in the past few years, that is Porto, in season 2003/2004 and Sporting Lisbon. He also had spells with Gil Vicente and Academica de Coimbra.