INTER BRING THE TROPHY HOME

The latest, 19th Commonwealth Cup - a football tournament between the champions of CIS and Baltic countries - once again ended successfully for an Azerbaijani team. Inter added to previous victories by Neftci and Xazar-Lankaran and became the third Azerbaijani club to return home with the tournament trophy. So Azerbaijan has equalled the record set by Russian clubs in winning the cup three times.

It is no secret that in recent years, attitudes towards the tournament have changed. The Russian and Ukrainian champions decline to take part, or they enter reserve squads, and this has greatly devalued the tournament's image. Even Belarus was not represented by its champions, but by the silver medallists.  So what caused this change of approach towards the Commonwealth Cup?

Firstly, it has to be said that holding the tournament in January does not fit in with most teams' plans.  For example, the Belarusian champion, BATE, preferred to continue training for their UEFA Champions League games because the 'post-Soviet' tournament offers no money prize, and the games are played on artificial turf, which increases the risk of injuries. The players also tire more quickly on these pitches.

The Russian and Ukrainian clubs which are not interested in the tournament prefer to compete in more prestigious tournaments, like the Champions League and the Europa League. For the Azerbaijani teams, however, those tournaments are unfortunately out of reach for now, which is why they focus on the Commonwealth Cup. In addition, the tournament instils confidence in our football and our fans, who do not see major victories so often. At the same time, football is one of the most popular sports and is held in high regard all over the world. That is why victory in the main football tournament between former Soviet countries is so important for the country's sporting image.

Because St Petersburg's Zenit won Russia's championship last season, the Commonwealth Cup was organized in that city. One of the tournament favourites, Azerbaijani champions Inter raced easily through their qualifying games. Beating Neftci from Kyrgyzstan and Istiqlal from Tajikistan by the same score, 3-0, and defeating Iskra-Stal from Moscow 1-0, Inter became the first Azerbaijani team to reach the quarterfinals by winning three qualifiers. No Azerbaijani team had accumulated 9 points in the qualifiers since the tournament began in 1993. Neftci won all their qualifiers in 2005, but back then three, not four, teams competed in the qualifying groups.

In the quarterfinals, the Azerbaijani footballers played the Armenian team MIKA, who were fourth in their country's most recent championship.  It must be noted that, because of the special nature of the game between the teams from Azerbaijan and Armenia - countries which are in a state of war - the organizers implemented special security measures. Fortunately, there was only one minor incident during the game. This occurred when the flag of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic - the Azerbaijani territory occupied by Armenia - appeared in the stands of the Armenian fans. After strong protests from Azerbaijani fans, the police told the Armenians to fold the flag.

The Inter-MIKA game once more demonstrated the readiness of Azerbaijanis to unite under their fatherland's flag:  the Azerbaijani fans in the Sports and Concert Centre in St Petersburg broke this season's record - 4,000 people supported the team, and they were not all Inter fans. It was good to see that there were many Xazar-Lankaran fans in the stands who had come to support Inter out of solidarity for the team from their country, thus starting yet another wonderful tradition in Azerbaijani football.

As for the game itself, the Azerbaijani champions played very well and beat the Armenian team 4-0. In 2005 and 2006, another Azerbaijani team, Neftci, was drawn against Pyunik from Armenian twice. In 2005, the Azerbaijani players won 2-0 and one year later the Armenian team chose not to show up for the game, flying home from Moscow on a night plane - apparently anticipating another defeat.

So, Inter's victory against another Armenian team was as important as winning the tournament. The Armenian media reported that every member of the Armenian team had been promised $50,000 for victory in the game with Inter. This fact alone proves the importance attached to the game by Armenia - even though Armenian officials never miss an opportunity to say that sport should not be mixed with politics. Victory by the Azerbaijani team was certainly a serious blow to the Armenians. The harsh reaction of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, who said that the team lost because its leading players did not participate, is testimony.

The Armenian press followed in the footsteps of the country's president and subjected the footballers and the team management to harsh words for their disgraceful defeat. The team's owner, Mikhail Bagdasarov, faced particularly scathing criticism. Incidentally, Bagdasarov is originally from Baku. Officially, the club's president is Vigen Khachatryan, but Bagdasarov funds the team.

In the semi-finals, Inter defeated Russia champions Zenit. Zenit's main squad was at a tournament in Dubai and its reserve squad played in the Commonwealth Cup. Kakhaber Tskhadadze's team scored five goals against Zenit without reply. Although Zenit did not play its first team, the score will remain as one of the most devastating in the history of Russia's champions.

In the final Inter played Shakhter, runners-up in the Belarusian championship. No goals were scored in 90 minutes or the 20 minutes of extra time (two 10-minute halves, in accordance with the tournament's rules). It has to be said in fairness that the teams were equally matched. Shakhter played very well, both in defence and attack, and Rovsan Amiraslanov and Girts Karlsons of Inter missed excellent scoring opportunities. However, the outcome was decided by penalty shootout and both goalkeepers demonstrated their skills. The decisive moment came when Shakhter player Grenkov missed. So, the Commonwealth Cup went to Azerbaijan for the third time in the tournament's history.

We should also say that Inter's goalkeeper Giorgi Lomaia was named the best goalkeeper of the tournament - he kept a clean sheet in six games and set a new record for the tournament. The best striker, with 6 goals, was Girts Karlsons, Latvian member of the Azerbaijani team. By scoring three goals against Zenit, he went down in the history of the tournament and was also the only scorer of a hat trick in this year's Commonwealth Cup. Incidentally, this was the second success for Azerbaijani footballers in a St Petersburg stadium. In 2008, Xazar-Lankaran took the trophy home from that city, and now Inter have done the same. To the applause of the fans, FIFA President Joseph Blatter handed the Commonwealth Cup to Inter captain Vladimir Levin. The head of the international football association congratulated the team and its fans on their victory. In conclusion, the national anthem of Azerbaijan was performed in honour of the winning team.

International Bank of Azerbaijan Chairman of the Board Cahangir Haciyev, who is the club's honorary president, noted that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was also pleased by the team's victory.  Cahangir Aliyev specifically mentioned the win against MIKA.

So, pleasing the fans with its impressive victories in the tournament, Inter have written yet another glorious page in their history. Their success also brought together the Azerbaijanis who live in St Petersburg. Throughout the10 days of the tournament, they kept Azerbaijani flags flying in the sports centre to support the team.

We, too, congratulate Inter on their victory!