PREMIER LEAGUE

The head coach of Azerbaijan's national football team, Berti Vogts, who is constantly surprising fans with new players, remains true to form. Twenty-two footballers were invited to the last training session of the year. A new name attracted our attention among them. It was that of the Turkish player Ilter Tashkin. Azerbaijan's coaches watched him play in Germany. The young footballer is defending the colours of "Eintracht Braunschweig", playing in the second league of the Bundesliga championship. A few months ago he came to Azerbaijan, invited by the head coach of the country's national under-21 team, Bernhard Lippert. Once he had played for the national under-21 squad, he was accepted by the country's top team and played in a friendly against Kyrgyzstan.

During the training session, with the consent of Berti Vogts (without that no player has the right to give an interview during the training sessions), Ilter Tashkin shared with R+ his impressions of his debut in the national  squad.

- Taskin Ilter is a name about which the fans and the media have not heard much in Azerbaijan. In spite of this, you have been invited to join our top team.

- I have played in the national under-21 squad for some time. Your attention is mainly focussed on your national team. Perhaps that's why many people have not heard of me. The under-21 squad played a regular match against Macedonia. I did not play in it, since I was being penalised for getting too many penalty cards. Taking this into account, Berti Vogts decided to try me out in the main squad.

-You have a Turkish surname.

- I am an ethnic Azeri from [the Turkish town of] Igdir, I speak Azeri with my relatives and close friends at home.

- You only played three games in the under-21 squad. Did you believe that you would be able to attract Vogts' attention  so quickly?

- To be honest, no I didn't. I'm very pleased about the offer to join Azerbaijan's national  team. But I didn't expect that that it would happen so quickly. I hope that this offer will not be the last. I'm well aware that it's all up to me. If I play well, Vogts will probably include me in the squad in the future.

- Isn't it difficult to play in the top team at the age of 19?

- Football is a team sport. No one can win on his own. We have to try to display a team spirit.

- Berti Vogts invited you to join the national squad. But he may be leaving Azerbaijan at the end of the year.

- I hadn't thought about that. I thanked him for his offer. The present is not the right time to     start thinking about what will happen.

- Most players in the national squad want the German professional coach to remain at the team's helm. What can you say about that?

- It's my first time playing in the team. So, I might be misunderstood if I commented. But if the players have been in favour of this for a long time, then they must have good reason. I got to know Vogts well during the training sessions. He came across as a sincere and professional coach.

- What do you think about your debut with the team?

- I think it turned out quite well. Naturally, it is hard to show what you can do in just one game. But I hope to be useful to the national squad in the future. I'm only 19 years old. Not many players have the honour of being invited to play in the national  squad. If  I'm needed, I can spend a few years playing in the national  under-21 squad. I'm ready to help it in the selection stage of the Europe-2015 championship. Now, for the first time, we can win a trip to the finals in the continent's top championship.

- The fans expected a win in the recent matches, but the team lost to Estonia and drew with Kyrgyzstan.

- It is difficult for me to judge those games. I'm a novice in this game, and I may be misunderstood. I think we were just unlucky in the match with Estonia. We played well, but it just didn't work out. The ground in Kyrgyzstan was a very bad one. Matches should not be played in a stadium like that. This was precisely the reason for the outcome. What's more, the main aim of friendlies is to try out the team.

- Had you seen the national squad playing a match before you joined it?

- Of course, I keep track of its games. In the latest matches the team won 2;1 against Northern Ireland, then had a 1:1 draw with Russia. These are good results. It can definitely be felt that the national squad is making progress. The team is developing and maturing. The players keep up their game right till the end and score fine goals. That selection process may be registered as an asset to the team. As a result of it, the team has begun to rise in the FIFA ratings. There have been big changes in the team. I'm very pleased that I've become part of it as well in the most recent games.

- How did they react in your team to the offer for you to join Azerbaijan's national squad?

- They were surprised and also glad. They were surprised in the good sense of the word. For a trainee player to be invited to join a national squad is very important to any club. So, I did not have any problems. I arrived in Baku on the date specified.

- Over the last few months you club has not been playing very well. Why do you think that is? 

- Every team has its problems. We have not been lucky for a while. We have not managed to achieve everything that we planned. The main thing is that we should put more effort into training for  the forthcoming matches. We know that we have to earn the points.