A LUCKY DRAW

The draw for the qualifying matches of the 2018 World Cup, which will take place in Russia, gave the Azerbaijani national team challenging but beatable opponents. Azerbaijani footballers will face off against Germany, the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, and San Marino.  The only one of these teams that Azerbaijan has not played against is San Marino. Our footballers are already familiar with the remaining four.

The strongest in Group C is, without a doubt, the last World Cup winner - Germany. Azerbaijan has played the German team four times, each time leaving the field the loser - twice with punishing scores of 6:1 and 4:1. Interestingly, at each of these four matches the Azerbaijani team was headed by German professional Berti Vogts. Earlier he had correctly noted that "scoring points on the German team would be a miracle." And it's true: even a tie in a game for points with the current world champion team is a fantastic result in and of itself. 

Statistics for games between Azerbaijan and Germany

Azerbaijan - Germany:  0:2 (qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup)

Germany - Azerbaijan:  4:0 (qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup)

Germany - Azerbaijan:  6:1 (qualifying round of the UEFA European Championship)

Azerbaijan - Germany:  1:3 (qualifying round of the UEFA European Championship)

Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic have only faced off once, and that was only as part of an unofficial tournament in the UAE in November 2009. The Azerbaijani team won thanks to goals made by Vagif Cavadov and Ruslan Abisov. However, it needs to be said that in the match the Czech team consisted primarily of second-string players. The Czech national team, which in its day had such star footballers as Pavel Nedved and Jan Koller, is now undergoing a change of generations. It is certainly no longer the team that for many years was considered one of the strongest on the continent. Nevertheless, the Czechs have every right to compete for second place in the group. Despite all this, respectable opposition can be made against the Czech team, which has lost its former power, and in matches against them the Azerbaijani team can increase its tally of goals.

The Azerbaijani and Northern Irish teams have also faced off in four matches. Out of those two ended in ties, one was won by the Irish, and one by Azerbaijani footballers.

Statistics of games between Azerbaijan and Northern Ireland

Azerbaijan - Northern Ireland:  0:0 (qualifying round of the 2006 World Cup) 

Northern Ireland - Azerbaijan:  2:0 (qualifying round of the 2006 World Cup)

Northern Ireland - Azerbaijan:  1:1 (qualifying round of the 2014 World Cup)

Azerbaijan - Northern Ireland:  2:0 (qualifying round of the 2014 World Cup)

Football fans know the Norwegian team as well, since Azerbaijan and Norway are in the same group for the qualifying cycle of the 2016 UEFA European Championship. Although the overall statistics do not augur well for the Azerbaijani team, it was able to score some goals against the Scandinavians during the current cycle - in a game with Norway. 

Statistics for games between Azerbaijan and Norway

Norway - Azerbaijan:  5:0 (qualifying round of the 1998 World Cup)

Azerbaijan - Norway:  0:1 (qualifying round of the 1998 World Cup)

Azerbaijan - Norway:  0:1 (qualifying round of the 2016 World Cup) 

Norway - Azerbaijan:  0:0 (qualifying round of the 2016 World Cup)

San Marino, considered one of Europe's weakest teams, will be a new opponent. In the 23-year history of its existence, the Azerbaijani team has never played against the San Marino team. In the game with this team Robert Prosinecki's players simply must get six points - the mini-state's players have not once tasted victory in an official match.

Prosinecki believes that the Azerbaijani team was put into a very challenging group. "It can be seen the moment you look at who is in it. The Norwegians are an opponent we know fairly well - we played against them very recently. There's no reason to say much about the Czech team. Everyone knows what kind of team it is already. The Czechs have always played a good game, and they're still doing it now. What interests me most is the games against Germany - the current world champion. Playing against a team like that will be extremely interesting," Prosinechki told R+.  

Boyukaga Haciyev, the former coach of Neftci, does not agree: he thinks good scores can be made against such opponents. "Our team was never this lucky. Aside from Germany, our opponents aren't all that intimidating. We can put up firm opposition against the others.  I'm completely serious - Robert Prosinecki got lucky with the draw. Let's put the World Cup champions aside. They will be the first in the group. There's no doubt there. San Marino is a real gift to us. We, of course, respect them. But in games against them victory is a real possibility - otherwise what point would there be in training? We just recently played against Norway, and got a tie on the opponent's home turf. We're also familiar with the Northern Irish team. It's a team with high physical stats. We've never officially played the Czechs. The German team aside, it is vital that we fight to the very last in the games with the other teams. We have the strength to do that. The draw was a fortunate one for our team. It's hard to say now what state the team will be in by that time. But with opponents like those, we can fight it out for third place in the group, and even for the play-off."

With the exception of the Germans, the draw picked acceptable opponents for the Azerbaijani team. True, passing judgement on upcoming games now would be wrong. The qualifying round, after all, only begins in September 2016. No one can say what shape this or that team will be in then. Despite this, playing against all the opponents in the group - once again, excluding the German team - is completely possible. The Azerbaijani team can prove that it is a contender for the second or third place in the group.

The calendar of upcoming matches is already known as well. Winners within the groups will get a straight ticket to the World Cup.  The best eight second-place teams in nine groups will contend for a place in the World Cup finals.