IN ANTICIPATION OF VICTORY

The prevailing mood of the Azerbaijani national football team, as it heads into a break in the qualification stage of the 2010 World Cup, is not that good. The team lost 0:1 in this year's last qualifying game away to Finland, failing to improve its goal difference in matches with northern nations. Thus, after three rounds played, the team has not scored a single goal and has only one point, taken at home against Liechtenstein. 

Bahrain success

So far, the Azerbaijani team has not been able to achieve a good result in the qualifiers, although it has been generally successful in friendly games. A graphic example of this was the visit to Bahrain, just a few days after the game in Helsinki. It must be said that the team showed excellent determination in sealing a 2:1 win. Moreover, the team finished without Rayil Malikov, who was sent off. Azerbaijan scored with an accurate shot by Elvin Mammadov, who had come on as a substitute.

Nonetheless, this success should not be overestimated, given the level of Bahrain's players, as well as the status of this friendly match in which the teams were not playing for points. The real test of a team's skill is playing in qualifiers, in which they have been unsuccessful so far, despite the appointment of the well-known Berti Vogts as senior coach of the Azerbaijani national football team. Actually, the German specialist is no magician, and is unlikely to be able to raise the overall level of national football on his own, especially considering that the number of players available to the national team is quite limited, and new names seldom appear. However, Vogts is actively bringing in new players from these reserves. It is enough to mention midfielder Araz Abdullayev, who, by the way, is going to train with Real Madrid. If Abdullayev performs well at the Santiago Bernabeu, it is quite possible that he will be vying for a place in the "royal" club some day.

The Azerbaijani team has considerably improved its record in terms of goals conceded. They have given away only two goals in three matches, which is definitely a good sign. However, the attack leaves much to be desired, and the team has most problems in this area. Azerbaijan's team creates good scoring chances in virtually every match, but they are poorly exploited, thus wasting the team's effort. The friendly game with Bahrain hardly counts, as the key focus now is on championship qualifying matches, in which scoring is a much more daunting task. Vogts has been trying different options in the offensive line, but as yet to no avail. Consequently, the German specialist has temporarily excluded Khagani Mammadov, the leading striker in the latest national championship and the player has been out of the spotlight this season. 

Everything is revealed by comparison and it is worth mentioning that football is developing rapidly in Europe, with footballing "dwarfs" now often taking points from more skilled and venerated opponents.

Thus, a number of sensational results were registered in the initial matches of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. The landmark victory was a 2:1 win sealed by Luxembourg away to Switzerland. Luxembourg's team, sniffing the scent of victory, then took points from Moldova, drawing their game 0:0. This suggests that high skill no longer guarantees a win. Here the Azerbaijani national team has enough examples to follow, especially given that our team also has glorious pages in its track record. We only need recall the home wins against Switzerland and Serbia, and a draw with Portugal. By the way, Portugal's team suffered a failure during the last round of games, drawing their match with Albania, whose team was outnumbered on the pitch for over an hour.

On the other hand, defeat is never embarrassing when the team plays well and hence, has the potential to improve. However, Azerbaijan's current team has yet to play well, and the draw with Liechtenstein is a clear example. Moreover, Azerbaijan has yet to face the strongest teams in the group - Germany and Russia. Thus coach Vogts has an unenviable task and it is quite clear that it is extremely difficult to rectify the situation in a matter of months. Grooming players with a winning psychology is a difficult job, requiring years of hard work. But how can this be done now, at a time when our team so rarely cheers us with good results?

Vogts believes in a bright future

We should mention that Berti Vogts's work as coach of the national team is under close scrutiny not only from the Azerbaijani football community but also from foreign experts, and this is understandable. The former coach of Germany's national team, which won the European Cup in 1996, after rather unsuccessful terms in Scotland and Nigeria, decided to defy destiny and come to Baku. In this connection, UEFA's official magazine has published a story about the coach's every-day affairs, which is quite interesting.

"After working with the national teams of Germany, Kuwait, Scotland and Nigeria, Berti Vogts has yet to satisfy his craving for international football. Having gained experience by working throughout the world, the former defender of the FRG national team notes that in Azerbaijan, he is experiencing one of the most complicated and thrilling adventures of his life. 

"It is a huge challenge," Vogts said in an interview with UEFA's magazine. "I have the feeling that I have gone back in time to the days when I was just starting my career as a coach in 1990. I am working with the basics of football again and it is quite thrilling!"

The 61-year-old Vogts was a key member of the German football machine, while in Azerbaijan he has to be everything. But he is not complaining. 

"I knew what to expect after talks with AFFA (the Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan). I watched matches involving the Azerbaijani team and realized that I wanted to work in a country which intends to change a lot in the next five years. This country is ready for progress in football. We have to build more stadia and the clubs should have junior sections in order to assist the development of adolescent football," said Vogts. 

"I looked through many notes and travelled across Azerbaijan over three weeks, watching premier league matches. Further, I sent out invitations to several players, we developed a programme for them and brought them to Germany to undergo medical tests. We obtained all the necessary information and divulged it to all the football clubs so that their coaches could assist us in our efforts to increase their players' skills," he continued. 

Further, Vogts began to talk about the future again. "I would like to create a team that will be ready to compete in three to four years. Currently, we do not have the strength to compete with the leaders but, if we work properly, we can be sure of making great progress. In a few years, Azerbaijan will be able to vie for places in the major tournaments," Vogts concluded.

Khazar-Lankaran ignites 

Vogts, who had decided to take a short "time-out" and headed for his native  

Germany, missed the pearl of the national championship, i.e. the encounter between Khazar-Lankaran and Neftchi. Matches between these teams have always been a principled struggle, although they are currently in different parts of the table. As leader and, at the same time, the home team, Khazar, whose star is striker Ivan Tsvetkov, won the game 2:0. It is quite impressive that the Bulgarian scored as many as nine goals in the first eight rounds of the championship, securing his leading position among strikers. It is largely thanks to him that the southerners are currently at the top of the league. 

Overall, in analyzing the play of local teams, it should be noted that the overwhelming majority are experiencing a certain "fever". Moreover, just one defeat for the leaders may drastically alter the situation in the table. So far, only the champions, Inter, remain undefeated, occupying fourth place, but this season, victories are not coming easily to "the bankers". The team has celebrated success in five games and has drawn three, which means that they have already dropped quite a few points. And this is explicable, given that Inter carry the psychological burden of being champions. Moreover, the best "sniper" of last season, Khagani Mammadov, has been out of the spotlight this season, and is not scoring so often.

One should admit that Neftchi, who have sealed only two wins, were the outsiders in the initial stages of the tournament. This being said, team has suffered from the frequent turnover of its coaches. The leap-frog began when Gurban Gurbanov quit the post of senior coach after unsuccessful performances in last year's UEFA Cup. The team was then headed by Vlastimil Petrjela, Anatoli Demyanenko and now by German specialist Hans-Jurgen Gede. However, it is difficult to say whether or not he will be able to make things better. Neftchi currently lie ninth, trailing the leaders by eleven points. 

While the situation is not exactly crystal clear among the leaders, the championship outsiders are easier to sort out. In the lower part of the table are Turan and Bakyly, with a total of two points. Moreover, Bakyly have already suffered a record defeat in the current championship, having lost to Baki, who are vying for medals, by the hockey-like score of 0:7. What's next? We will see