BERTI VOGTS IS PREPARED TO QUIT

There are many famous people in Azerbaijani sport. The least popular today is certainly Berti Vogts, the manager of the Azerbaijani national football team. After a 4-1 defeat to the Belgium national team in their Euro-2012 qualifying match, the German coach was recalled by many, and not in a very positive vein. This is always the rule in football: the team is congratulated for a victory, and the coach is criticized for a defeat. After the shocking loss to the Belgium team, everyone - veteran footballers, journalists and even parliamentarians criticized the German coach.

Those, who called him the saviour of national football after a 1:0 victory over the Turkish national team last autumn, are now demanding his resignation. Berti Vogts himself went home - to Germany - after the game with Belgium and, after returning to Baku recently, he began to follow games in the domestic league. Our meeting with him took place at a premier league game. Probably, in agreeing to this interview with R+, Berti VOGTS did not anticipate how bitter our questions would be.

- You have probably returned to Baku for training sessions?

- Yes, training sessions were planned for 11-14 April in Baku. Over four days, I wanted to familiarise myself with the players' training levels. However, we decided to postpone the training sessions since important games are under way in the domestic championship and I did not want to interfere with the clubs in this stage. However, the players will have medical examinations and then I will have a chance to find out their levels.

- Quite a long time has passed since the game with Belgium. Have you had time to analyze the game? What happened?

- The winner is the one who makes least mistakes in football. And so each team tries to reduce errors to the minimum. Personally I did not see much of a fight on the pitch in Brussels. However difficult, I must acknowledge that our players did not look like themselves. The game was one of continuous errors. Players who performed miracles in training, were totally unrecognizable on the pitch in Brussels. We made too many mistakes. And with so many blunders it would be na?ve to hope for anything.

- Let us agree that the Belgium national football team is strong. Nevertheless it is difficult to understand a defeat without a fight. It was as if the players had accepted defeat before the game started…

 - You know, I never like discussing players in the press. However, you press me to name some of them. With the exception of one or two players, the rest only made mistakes. They do not understand that it is a great honour to play for the national team. How is it possible to play like that for the national team?

- Can you name names?

- I can. For example, Mahir Sukurov and Rail Malikov did not justify the hopes pinned on them. I mention these players because they are more experienced and should be an example to younger players. Instead, both players made bad mistakes in Brussels. It looked like they did not do anything in training. After watching how they played for 90 minutes on the pitch, one might ask: what did you do during those 10 days?

- Some people blame you for training the team in defensive football. Do you really train the team to play the whole 90 minutes in defence?

- In the game with Belgium there was neither defence nor attack. It was like a different team from the one that beat Turkey. In that game the players' eyes sparkled, they gave everything on the pitch. However, in Brussels I did not see that at all. I did not tell them to play defensively. On the contrary, the team was asked to take every opportunity to go on the attack. Cavadov simply could not do anything.

- Have you had a chance to follow the Azerbaijan press? Players complained that you did not let them play in other positions…

- They had better play football than give interviews. When they were asked about positions, for some reason they said nothing. So it is difficult for me to say anything.

- Anyway, you probably know how the media criticized the team and you personally?

- I usually receive criticism after defeats. After we earned a point in the match with Russia and after the win over Turkey, we heard many nice words. But now we have lost, which means we should be criticized severely. Let the players get used to this…

- But there are also demands for your resignation…

 - The Association of Football Federation of Azerbaijan (AFFA) decides on the contract, and they have the last word. If everything will fall into place with my resignation, I can leave.

- Will you invite the players who displeased you in the Belgium match to the next training session?

- The players will have a check-up prior to the game with Kazakhstan. Only after that will we make a decision. It is also possible to expect changes to the team - players who failed to justify hopes will not play in the national team. What is clear so far is that Mahir Sukurov will not play in the games with Kazakhstan and Germany.

- Does Mahir himself not want to play?

- Sukurov himself approached me and asked me not to invite him to the national team for a while. You know he left Makhachkala's Andzhi and is actually free now. True, he is training with Neftci but he is not playing yet. He will not be in the national team for the next three to four months.

- Do you think it will be possible to solve the team's problems in the run up to the Kazakhstan game?

- Time is important in raising the level of skill in the national team. A couple of months is too short a period in football. In any event, together with AFFA, we make every effort to that end. We should not forget that football is a team game. And if a player or two play badly, the whole team loses. We still have time before the game with Kazakhstan. So I hope everything will be fine.

- You are probably in no doubt that fans will only be happy with victory in the game with Kazakhstan.

- We go to every game to win. As for our opponents, the Kazakh team is a strong one. Do you remember what Joachim L?w, the German team's coach, said after the game? He openly said that Kazakhstan are stronger than Azerbaijan.

- What would you like to say?

- I am confident that Kazakhstan will have problems in the game with Azerbaijan. We must prepare well for the game with them.