FIASCO AS “ACHIEVEMENT”

The Azerbaijani national futsal team finished ahead of schedule at the largest competition of the year, European Championship. Due to a poor result, the team could not leave the group stage of the tournament. After losing to Georgia (2-3) in the first game, José Alessio's team drew with the ambitious team of Spain (2-2). In the last game, our futsal team defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina (4-2), but their expectation to make it to the play-off stage did not come true. Because the Spaniards' defeated Georgia 8-0! 

Who to blame? The Azerbaijani national team, of course. They had to win the first game against Georgia. But defeat in the first game ruined all their plans.

Mistakes and factors

There are many reasons for the poor performance of the national team. First of all, the athletes could not stay fit throughout the pandemic. On the other hand, some members of the team were unable to support the team at the European Championship due to lockdown restrictions. The biggest problem, however, is the team's lack of fighting spirit. With a number of mistakes in the game against Georgia, our players contributed to the victory of their opponents themselves. Even if we made it to the play-offs, we would have failed to go far with such an unsatisfactory performance.

Another regrettable point is that the national team consists of naturalised foreign players. For the European Championship, the Brazilian head coach José Alessio largely relied on his fellow compatriots, who did not live up to his expectations.

The highest result ever recorded by Azerbaijani futsal teams was back in 2010, when the national team finished fourth at the European Championship. Then in 2016, we became the fifth. The last result shows the lack of progress in futsal over the past seven years. While renewing the roster of naturalised legionnaires, the coaching staff seems reluctant to create conditions for local futsal players. The prevailing number of expats, but the goalkeeper, is a serious blow to young players, who have no perspectives to develop in the future.    

It was an even fight, but....

Rovshan Huseynli, the national team goalkeeper, shared a few comments on Euro 2022: "The team has failed to prepare for the championship adequately. We had big problems due to the pandemic. It took us some time to get recovered after a long pause and play enough friendly games. I don't think there is a regress in the national team. We got qualified for European competitions for the sixth time. Apparently, our fans got used to it. We are also happy to see such a support from our fans, which is a sign of their trust in the team. Before the game with Georgia, four of our players were tested COVID-positive. They could not play in the friendly game against Belgium and complete the preparation stage. Defender Galo and I were unable to play in that game either. Nor in the game against Spain. Lack of support from any member of the team had a negative impact. We started the game well, yes. Despite so many difficulties, we scored the first two goals. But we failed to keep the tempo till the end of the game. I think Georgia didn't play better than us; it was an equal competition. We just could relieve the pressure. As our coach said, we tried to avoid cards and closing the gap in the score.”

Rizvan Farzaliyev, one of the most experienced players in the national team, also complained: "Before the European Championship, we could not play for eight months; we did not play any games. Eventually, it was very difficult. Not everything is perfect. The game with Georgians started well for the team. Despite the lead in the beginning, we failed to maintain the scoreline. Because we failed to convert our chances to real score and the referee made mistakes. We had a good start against the favourite of the championship, Spain. But the game ended in a draw. Yet it was a success. In the last game we defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, the defeat in the game against Georgia prevented us from leaving the group. We may not decide the fate of José Alessio as a head coach. It's up to the management of the team. Our job is to accomplish the tasks set in front of us.”  

Isa Atayev, who looked confident as part of the national team and even scored against the Spaniards, also denies the negative aspects in domestic futsal: "I wouldn't say there is a regression in the national futsal. Some players represent different clubs. We need more time to adapt but we didn't have any. We started the first game well and had a two-point lead. In order to increase the difference, we tried to create some scoring chances which could have led to a different result... But we paid the cost of it.”

Time is short

The Azerbaijan Futsal Federation should seriously analyse such a poor result and draw the necessary conclusions. There is great interest in futsal in the country, but for some reason only legionnaires are given chances in the national team. Time for reform is short, as qualification games for the World Cup start in June. It is important to make the changes before that date. It may be worth asking the head coach José Alessio to report on the work done. It was the coaching staff who were to blame for the 2-0 defeat to an equally strong Georgian team. 

By the way, Azerbaijani Elnur Gambarov has been appointed head coach of the Canadian youth futsal team. We have our own coaches who achieve high results. We just need to believe in them.