A SUCCESSFUL GAME SERIES

The national football team of Azerbaijan surprised the whole European continent, winning 7 points in 4 games of the qualifying round of the World Cup 2018.

It was the most successful start for the national team, which initially beat San Marino and Norway. This was followed by a draw with the Czech Republic. It was only in the fourth round that Robert Prosinecki’s team lost to the Northern Ireland.

Azerbaijan started qualifications wining over San Marino (0:1). Despite the victory, the game demonstrated problems in the team. The San Marino team is one of the weakest teams in Europe, although the Azerbaijani players could hit their gates only once, and there were a few dangerous moments, but a number of blunders.

In the next game against Norway in Baku, Prosinecki’s team won a deserved victory with a score of 1:0 thanks to the goal by Maxim Medvedev. Everyone knows that once a strong Norwegian team is in decline. And the Azerbaijani team took advantage of this opportunity and recorded 3 points in its asset.

After a goalless draw with the Czech Republic, even the most pessimistic fans have started talking about the possibility of getting the second place in the group. By the way, a number of experienced players left the Czech national team after Euro 2016. Once a strong team capable of beating any opponent, the team of Jan Koller, Pavel Nedved and Peter Czech is now experiencing a painful change of generations. This allowed the Azerbaijani team achieve a draw and increase the number of points to 7.

Our team is probably the only team in the world, which even the head coach cannot forecast. The team, which earned 7 points in three games and did not fail to make a save, was expected to win before the game with the Northern Ireland. Most of the fans were experiencing euphoria. But they probably forgot that the Northern Ireland team is not the same team that lost 4 years ago in Baku and could only get a draw in Belfast with the national team of Azerbaijan. In qualifying for the World Cup 2014, our national team drew (1:1) with the Irish, and won 2:0 in Baku.

Today, the national team of the Northern Ireland is a completely different team that played in the finals of the European Championship this summer and has even managed to leave the group in the 1/8 finals. Michael O’Neal’s team gives quite a different impression. Being an average European team, the Northern Ireland was waiting for a revenge for the four-year-old game with Azerbaijan.

As a result, the hopes of the Azerbaijani fans have failed. The Northern Ireland’s team was stronger in terms of physical preparation and making crosses. Plus, we made errors in passes, had inaccurate strikes and weak links between the players, which played into the hands of competitors. As a result, the Northern Ireland team scored four goals against Kamran Aghayev. All this shows that the national team has serious problems.

In this game, the head coach Robert Prosinecki made a wrong composition of players. As the game has shown, it was very risky to release Ramil Sheydayev and Emin Mahmudov in the starting lineup match, as they do not have practice of playing in club matches. Also, it cannot be neglected that Arif Dashdamirov, no matter what a good footballer he is, cannot play on the flanks. The absence of the injured Rashad Sadikhov has further aggravated errors in defense.

However, despite this defeat, the Azerbaijani national team, scored 7 points in 4 games, conducting his best season. Even one win in the remaining games will allow her to gain 10 points, which would be a record for the Azerbaijani team. However, we must realistically assess the strength of the domestic team and not fall into the euphoria of victory over such frankly weak teams, like San Marino.

The defeat in the game with the Northern Ireland was also anti-record for Robert Prosinecki. Under his leadership, the Azerbaijani team has not lost any game with 4 goals. The worst result for Prosinecki’s team was losing to the Serbian national team in a friendly game with a score of 4:1. Six of 16 games the national team left the field defeated.

Thus, Prosinecki himself wants to turn the page over and thinks about future games.

"We must look forward, think about the remaining games. We cannot give up. In comparison with the game in the Czech Republic, I have made two changes. The problem was that the first three goals we got after standards. We have to be careful in such cases. In the second half, we tried to find our game, but failed. This opponent will arrive in Baku next year. That game we will start from scratch and try to achieve the best results.

So far we have played 4 games and won 7 points. In principle, I am satisfied, but we have to keep working. In the first three games, we did not miss goals and defeated Norway. I think in the upcoming games, we will increase our points. I did not promise that we would take the second place in the group. Now it is important that the team plays a good game. I believe in the players, as before. In Belfast, there were mistakes, but we were not lucky. We have to work more," said the head coach of the Azerbaijani national team.

In the other two group meetings, the German national team defeated San Marino (0:8), and the Czech Republic won Norway (2:1).

The next game of our national team will be held in March 2017 in Baku against the leader of the group, Germany.