ARCHITECT OF ATTACKS

One of Azerbaijani football's most outstanding representatives, Nazim Suleymanov, is celebrating his fiftieth birthday. Born 17 February 1965 in Sumqayit, Suleymanov showed an interest in football at age 8-9 years and quickly demonstrated his talent for the sport. He made his debut at age 17 playing for the team of the Synthetic Rubber Production Plant, but immediately drew the attention of football experts and joined FC Avtomobilist (Mingacevir), which competed in the championship of the Soviet Second League. He then went from this club to the best team in Azerbaijan, FC Neftci. He won the hearts of thousands of fans while playing for this club.

The best years of Suleymanov's football career are linked to his performance in the Russian leagues. He also played for Moscow's FC Spartak and Sochi's FC Zhemchuzhina. He was asked to play for Russia, but he declined the offer in order to be a starting player for the Azerbaijani "nationals".

He took gold medals in the Russian Football Championship while playing for FC Alania Vladikavkaz in 1995, where he was the tournament's top scorer, as well as the top overall goal scorer in the history of the Vladikavkaz club. Suleymanov also has silver medals form the Russian championship. For his services to FC Alania, Suleymanov was made an honorary citizen of North Ossetia.

In its article on Suleymanov, Sovetsky Sport called him the "sculptor of the attack". "His performance playing six seasons for Vladikavkaz was seen as a rare revelation: generous in fancifulness, rich in colours and at the same time geometrically rigorous, just like the stained glass from Nazim's native Azerbaijan. And FC Alania's entire 40,000-seat stadium chanting in unison: 'Sulya! Sulya!'", wrote Sovetskiy Sport.

After retiring from the sport in 2002, Suleymanov began coaching Sochi FC Zhemchuzhina's reserve team. One year later, he returned to Azerbaijan and headed FC Khazar Lankaran. After one season as the head of the "southerners", he helped coach the national team of Azerbaijan. He then coached the youth FC Baki. One of Suleymanov's main achievements is FC AZAL's appearance at the UEFA Cup. He also briefly managed FC Neftci.

Suleymanov shared his memories in an interview with R+.

- Allow me to congratulate you on your birthday. What do you want for your 50th birthday?

- I wish myself and everyone good health. If we are healthy, then we can be successful in our work. You can achieve anything in life, as long as you are healthy.

- What is a dream of yours that is yet to be realized?

- There are a lot. Once you achieve once, you start to dream about something else. I guess I still have not had my final word as a coach. It was not possible due to some problems that stood in the way. My coaching career began in Russia, then I came to Azerbaijan. Back then I had a purpose: to show myself off to the  homeland and work abroad. It's still my dream. But I'm already so old! I will try to make this dream come true.

- You were asked to play for the Russian national team, but you chose to play for Azerbaijan. Could Nazim Suleymanov's career have been more successful if he were part of the Russian team?

- Then I would not be Nazim Suleymanov. At the national level, it's not about playing for this or that. Back then, there was not as much attention on football as there is now. But playing for the national team of a country - it's an honour for any player. I always thought of the Azerbaijani national team.

- You were probably offered quite the premium and many benefits in exchange for playing for Russia, right?

- There's no point discussing that now. Of course, they offered the entire package. They would have provided housing, a good salary. But most importantly, I would no longer be considered a foreign player or "mercenary" in Russia. My status as a mercenary did not allow me to play every game, so I was sometimes on the bench due to the cap.

- 1996, the Gold Match of the Russian championship, FC Spartak - FC Alania. If you had scored during that crucial moment (Suleymanov missed a shot from the goal line resulting in Alania coach Valery Gazzayev taking him off the team), things could have been different...

- In 1995, Alania won the Russian championship, and earlier in 1992, came in second, playing in the UEFA Cup against Borussia Dortmund, who later went on to play in the final round of the tournament. And in 1996, we were supposed to be the champions. They said that Nazim Suleymanov failed to score a goal in the final minutes. Yes, that's true. But before that there were errors made in the game.

Even international stars miss at crucial moments in the World Cup finals. Roberto Baggio failed to score a penalty in the World Cup finals. Michel Platini made blunders. I also wanted to score, but it didn't happen. In that season, we made a lot of mistakes.

We might not have even made it to the "gold match". I now have normal relations with Gazzaev. We recently met and talked.

- Was it difficult to play in Russia as an Azerbaijani footballer?

- I played in Russia beginning in the Soviet era. It was difficult to some extent. We had to be 2-3 times stronger players than the local footballers in order to be given a chance to play. I remember my first match in 1991. Gazzayev took me to Moscow FC Spartak. In the first game we played against FC Lokomotiv. Even though I was on the roster, I was not put on the field. I shared my disappointment with Gazzayev after the game, and he said he wanted to give the local players a chance to play. But I was always thinking of Azerbaijan. I paid attention to every detail. I tried to create a positive attitude toward Azerbaijanis, as we represent our own country in football.

- On the national team, you played alongside Sahin Diniyev, Yunis Huseynov, Vali Qasimov, Arif Asadov and other famous players. But the team did not succeed. Why?

- There were many problems, but the main problem was that we weren't playing in Azerbaijan. There was war and we were forced to play our home matches in Turkey. There weren't many fans to support us. Playing in front of your fans is a very different feeling. We were rather unlucky.

- You did not participate in the game against France, which the Nationals lost 0:10. How come?

- At that time, FC Alania was preparing to play Liverpool. I asked Gazzayev to let me go play for the Azerbaijani national team as it is its captain. But he said that the club needed me. Following that, the AFFA [Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan] filed a complaint with UEFA and I was disciplined - I missed two games of the Russian championship.

- What were your feelings when you heard about the team's defeat?

 - I watched the whole game. At the beginning of the match, our team had a number of moments; at one point, the ball hit the post after a fake corner pass. But then it was as if something happened to the team. This is how team sports differ from individual sports. In a team sport, the state of one player can influence the whole team. But the game was not supposed to end with a score of 0:10.

- Why do we have so few high-profile players?

- Currently, any foreign footballer can come and play in Azerbaijan. Although they are not stronger than our players. In our time, it was much more difficult to be a mercenary. You had to be significantly better than the local players. And now our players aren't showing their full potential on the field. Someone's feelings might get hurt, but out on the field, you have to give it all you got. But our players aren't doing that. Sometimes journalists give too much praise when a footballer scores a goal, but this is what a footballer is supposed to do. All this praise gives them a false sense of achievement.

- You were given the name "Sulya" for your success in Russia. What is the story behind this nickname?

- My family name is Suleymanov, but it's a bit long. It was too difficult for the fans to shout out, so they called me "Sulya". At first it was a little strange, but then I got used to it. FC Alania fans always supported the team.

- Do you want to lead the Azerbaijani national team in the future?

- A soldier who doesn't dream of becoming a general is a bad one. Of course I want to. But you have to follow a certain path, to gain experience, to achieve results. For a coach to lead the national team of Azerbaijan - that is the crowning achievement of his career. Therefore it would be an honour for me to be the head coach of the national team, in which I myself once played.