DESPITE THE DRAW

The draw for the qualifying round of the 2016 European Football Championship has been held in the French city of Nice. It defined pretty formidable opponents for the Azerbaijani national team. According to the results of the draw, 54 teams in 9 groups will be vying for places in Euro 2016.

For the first time, 24 teams will get places in the final of the European Championship. Those who take the top two places in groups will automatically get into the final of the championship. They will be joined by one of the teams with the most points and the best results among the teams finishing third in their groups, as well as France - as the host team. The remaining 4 places will be raffled off during play-off matches between 8 teams that also finished third in the groups. France is included in Group I hors concours and will play friendly matches. The results of the matches with this team will not be included in the standings. It is expected that matches of the final stage of UEFA will be held from 10 June to 10 July 2016.

The Azerbaijani national team got pretty formidable opponents - Italy, Croatia, Norway, Bulgaria and Malta.

Formidable Italy

Winning the 1978 European Championship at home, the Italian national team, as always, is one of the favourites. Azerbaijani footballers lost two previous matches in the qualifying tournament for Euro 2004 to Italy, losing six unanswered goals in two games (0-2, 4-0). It is certainly not worth expecting a positive outcome in the match with the team of Cesare Prandelli. Countries from the Great Five rarely lose points in duels with teams like Azerbaijan. Even one point won in the home game with the four-time world champion would be a sensation. One thing is gratifying - the Italian team does not belong to those who ruthlessly crush small football nations. In matches with this rival, one can only hope for a miracle.

Ambitious Croats

Led by Niko Kovac, Croatia, which Azerbaijan will meet for the first time, cannot be considered to be an acceptable rival. Although this team is not a football giant, it has a strong composition. It is formed from experienced footballers playing for the famous clubs of Europe, and along with Italy, it is considered one of the favourites of the group. But despite this, the Croatian national team cannot be called invincible.

Scandinavian football

The Azerbaijani national team should not bury its capabilities in the upcoming matches with the Scandinavians beforehand even despite the fact that they never left our team any chance in official matches. Our national team lost six goals to Norway in two matches in the qualifying tournament for the 1998 World Cup (5:0, 0:1).

It is impossible to equate the Azerbaijani squad with Norway, of course. This team is a respected European middling, but at the same time, we can beat them in Baku, showing special zeal and fervour. Berti Vogts should demand that his players get a point in the second away match. In this confrontation, a lot will depend on the psychological preparedness of the Azerbaijani team. If the players cope with their shyness before the rival, they may well take points from the Norwegians.

Developing Bulgarians

Under the leadership of Lyuboslav Penev, Bulgaria, which has a sufficiently strong composition, demonstrates interesting performance. The country that gave the world football stars like Hristo Stoichkov and Dimitar Berbatov is at least one step ahead of Azerbaijan in football traditions. Azerbaijani footballers have met with Bulgarians only in friendly games, losing two of them (2:1, 3:0) and ending one in a goalless draw.

But promising to win a place in the final of Euro 2016, Vogts must prepare his team for victory in matches with such rivals. If the Azerbaijani national team is not strong enough to beat Norway and Bulgaria, Vogts' claims to the third place in the group will not be serious.

Can we call Malta a "dwarf"?

The confrontation with Malta includes four games, three of which were lost (5:0, 3:0, 1:0), and the last one in August 2013 was won with a score of 3-0.

And this latest victory in Baku can play a cruel joke. It is difficult to claim that the national team of Azerbaijan is obliged to get six points in all matches against Malta. Vogts' team settled for a goalless draw in the home game against Liechtenstein and gave Luxembourg the joy of two draws. A significant fact is that Malta gained their only victory in the last qualifying round for the World Cup 2014 over Armenia. In matches with Malta, the Azerbaijani team, which is considered the favourite, is obliged not to give the opponent a chance. Certainly, it is wrong to think that victory over Malta will be easy. The rivals will not come to Baku to be the whipping boys.

Towards a new record

Not everyone can be satisfied with the draw, and you do not order rivals. Therefore, we cannot excuse ourselves by the fact that we have strong rivals. We can take points from strong rivals only by preparing for each match at a high level.

When scheduling the games, Azerbaijan's wishes were almost not taken into account. As a rule, in the calendar discussed with head coaches, favourite countries have the final say. Two away matches with Italy and Croatia in 4 days in October 2014 cannot be considered a good solution.

But in any case, the team should strive to renew its latest achievement in the qualifying stage (9 points). Berti Vogts is well aware that fans want to see a national team that forces their opponents to respect them. The conditions created for the national team allow them to prepare at the level where a fight for third place in the group is possible, but we need to make maximum efforts for this in every match.

FIRSTHAND

"We have very strong teams. Italy is a grand team. Croatia and Norway are the strongest in the basket. Bulgaria is always ambitious. We will try to show good football against them," 

Berti Vogts, head coach of Azerbaijan

"We will start to collect the main information about the Azerbaijani team after the World Cup in Brazil. But now I can say that your team has a lot of good players. I am sure that Azerbaijan has a strong national team. In any case, you have a famous coach,"

Cesare Prandelli, Italy coach

"We got a hard group, but with sufficiently smooth teams. The main favourite, most likely, is Italy. For each team it will be hard to play against Azerbaijan. But we strive to get into Euro 2016, for which it is necessary to beat each opponent. I think that everyone except for Italy will fight for second or third places," 

Lyuboslav Penev, head coach of Bulgaria