SECOND ATTEMPT

The qualifier stage of the European futsal championship, which was organized in Baku, again proved successful for the national teams of Azerbaijan and Spain.  Both teams showed good form and qualified for the final tournament of the continental championship.  The Azerbaijan team, led by head coach Jose Alesio da Silva, won 6-3 against Kazakhstan and 4-2 against France, yielding only to the incumbent European champions, Spain (3-8).

It is great that the Azerbaijan national team qualified, for the second time, for the final stages of the European Championship, although there are still some problems with the game.  We discussed the Azerbaijan team's chances in the final stages and its problems with the team's Brazilian manager, Jose Alesio da Silva.

- The team has qualified for the final stages of the European Championship by winning two games and losing one.  What is your assessment of the overall result and the team's performance in general?

-Overall, the team played well.  We beat the Kazakhs and the French, but we were tired by the time we played the Spaniards. In addition, knowing that we had already qualified, the players relaxed, which also had a negative effect on the outcome of the third game.  There were mistakes too.  I am very worried about the confusion I noticed sometimes during opposition counterattacks.  We have to work on this.

-In the game with the reigning European champions, Spain, our team conceded 8 goals...  Did you expect so many bad defensive errors?

-You are right, there were too many mistakes.  Or to be more precise, the Spaniards forced us into making mistakes.  In a game with such strong opposition, concentration is very important.  Our defenders' errors showed in the final result.  Fatigue also took its toll - 6 of the starting line-up played all three games.  Goalkeeper Tveryankin made mistakes too.  Three of the goals could have been stopped.

-Our team did not look impressive in the second half...

-After the break, I made several substitutions.  As you could see for yourself, some of them were simply unable to keep up with the fast-paced game.  The Spaniards took advantage of that and swayed the odds in their favour.  At any rate, we have to be happy that the Azerbaijan team is still in the European Championship.

-Should we expect changes in the starting line-up?

-We simply have no choice.  We have to bring in players from other teams to the national team.  I have already given my opinion on this to the federation.  Otherwise we might encounter serious problems at the championship.

-Why are most of the players in our team foreigners?

-For now, Azerbaijani players cannot sustain serious physical exertion.  But I believe that next year there will be more local players in the starting line-up.  Among the younger players, I like Elvin Quliyev.  If he works hard, he might well make it to the starting line-up next year.

- There is one year to go before the European Championship.  Are you not worried about the older players in the team?

-There are different opinions about that.  For example, Machado Nilson will help us next year in Croatia.  He is a professional and knows very well how to stay in shape.  But we might have a problem with the goalkeeper.  Tveryankin is already 46 years old, and in the new season he might find it difficult to play fast-paced football.  We are thinking about this.  We might have a new goalkeeper for Euro 2012.

-At the latest European Championship, our team was fourth.  What is your goal for Euro-2012?

-We have not discussed this with the federation yet.  We need to train hard to be ready to play well.  If we go to Croatia in good shape, the results will be good.

-During the championship, the Azerbaijan team will compete with the best teams of the continent.  Have you assessed the opposition?

-I have skimmed the list of participants.  We can handle the national teams of Russia, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and many others, so it will depend on the draw which will be held on 7 September.  We hope that we will be drawn in a good group.