AFFA TAKES A TIMEOUT

The temporary appointment of Ma-cedonian Gjoko Hadzievski as coach to the Azerbaijani national football team until the end of the qualifiers might linger on into yet another qualifying campaign.  This is the conclusion that may be drawn from what he says about his view of the work in this post and AFFA's decision not to start looking for a different coach after Sahin Diniyev's resignation.  The Association took the path of least resistance by offering the post to a coach who has more than once made statements about his desire to coach the national team.  So now Hadzievski, who is also the coach of Baku FC, will have to prove himself in his new capacity.

In just a few months since the Macedonian's arrival in this country, he has managed to form an opinion about Azerbaijani football and the composition of the national team.  And his opinion is very different from the strategy of Sahin Diniyev, who failed to find a common language with a number of leading players whom he stopped selecting for the team.  Hadzievski, on the other hand, has no desire to waste talented players, given that there are not that many competitive footballers in Azerbaijan.  This is why his first step was to bring back Rasad Sadiqov, Zaur Tagizada and Mahmud Qurbanov, who sorely missed playing for the national team.  And the Macedonian immediately made it clear that he valued highly these players who should form the core of the renewed national team.  "I have watched these players for a long time and could not figure out why they were left out of the national team.  I think that with players like these, we should collect more than 10 points during the qualifiers.  Now they are in the team, and we will have time to dot our 'i's," the Macedonian said.  From the very first games under his leadership, the returnees began to live up to our expectations:  Thanks to their presence, the team's game became very different.  M. Qurbanov, for example, scored in the match with Finland, where the visitors lost 1-2 in an even game.

It is characteristic of him that he did not make any complaints about referees, despite their controversial decisions during the match in Helsinki.  In particular, the referee did not allow Z. Tagizada's goal, while Shefki Kuqi's goal was controversial.  "I am still resentful.  I have watched the replay of that goal a few times; the referee decided that I was offside, but I was unable to see how.  It is not only my opinion; a number of experts also noted several bad mistakes by the referee, which influenced the outcome.  Well, let it be on his conscience.  It is sad, of course, but let us not forget that this is football and both players and referees make mistakes," Zaur said.

At the same time, the new head coach intends to have the team adopt a new, modern style of play, which is the imperative in modern times.  "We need players who can play well all 90 minutes of the game.  Modern-day football has strict requirements which one has to meet.  Only with this kind of approach can one achieve success," Hadzievski said.  It is worth noting that he is the second foreign coach of the national team, following Carlos Alberto Torres, but while the Brazilian's coaching background was not particularly extensive, the new head coach is quite experienced.  He views his appointment as a challenge and therefore intends to achieve progress as quickly as possible.  "Naturally, it would be boastful for me to say that we could beat the Finns and Belgians in the final qualifiers for the 2008 European Championship, but the footballers' potential makes it possible for me to say that they can play better than they do now," Hadzievski said before the games.  And they did play better. Although the team lost, they fought hard.

Talking about his appointment, Hadzievski stressed that he had said many times before that he was ready to head the national team.  "Of course, it is a difficult time; after all, the qualifiers are drawing to an end.  But my work with the team is a sort of a challenge for me.  I have managed to see Azerbaijan's best players in action, and I am not biased against anyone.  Now we need to create a healthy atmosphere in the team, so that we can get ready for the games," the coach noted.  He also stressed that he had no intention of losing his hard-earned reputation as a good coach in the matter of a few games, and is, therefore, inclined to establish a long-term relationship with AFFA.

He also noted that combining jobs at the national team and Baku FC is not a big problem for him.  "I was in a similar situation in Macedonia, when I headed the national team of that country.  Besides, club president Hafiz Mammadov himself asked me to help the national team at a difficult moment, and the AFFA leadership told me the same, so I simply could not turn down their offer.  The national team plays 10 official games a year, maximum, so combining jobs is not a big problem," Gjoko Hadzievski said.

He did not rule out the possibility of inviting naturalized foreigners to the national team, although, for now, there are only two of them in the national team of his "convocation," Brazilian Leandro Gomes and Nigerian Usim Nduka.  In Hadzievski's opinion, the national team needs to move ahead, and attracting good, foreign players is just another factor that will help the team make progress faster.  The Macedonian also wants to talk to his colleagues, Hristo Vidakovic and Sima Kruic about coming to Baku as assistants.  Especially as Hadzievski now has carte blanche from AFFA and is free to choose his assistants as he pleases.

It is curious that, having invited Hadzievski in on a temporary contract, the Football Association has decided to adopt a wait-and-see approach.  AFFA General Secretary Elxan Mammadov noted that the Association is currently concentrating on preparations for the qualifying games with Finland and Belgium.  "When the qualifiers are over, we will analyze the coach's work and formulate a strategy.  The football season will soon end and, in December and January, we will discuss the prolongation of contracts.  Our contracts with coaches and technical specialists of the youth teams (U-17, U-19 and U-21) and, most importantly, our national team, are due to expire. We are also faced with the difficult problem of making preparations for the extraordinary AFFA conference, but the new head of the Association will probably be chosen at the conference scheduled for April.  I think that in early December, when a routine meeting of the Executive Committee is to take place, we will decide on the date, so it is premature to talk about these issues today," E. Mammadov said.

In the general secretary's opinion, AFFA made the right choice, given how well the team played in the recent matches, in particular, the game in Helsinki.  "We saw a new Azerbaijani national team with a unique style.  Despite the bad weather, the tactics were very similar to those of the best European teams.  Our guys played well despite the freezing, -6 degrees Celsius, and broken heating system at the stadium.  This is why playing good football in these conditions was difficult.  However, although we lost, I think that we played a good game, so Hadzievski kept his promise.  He said many times before the game that the team would play good-quality and fine football - and he was right.  I, for example, was watching the game with my colleagues from the Finnish Federation, and was very proud of our team.  And our team proved that its 1-0 victory in Baku was no accident," E. Mammadov said.

So G. Hadzievski's chances of keeping his job at the national team are quite good, especially as he has found a common language with practically all the players and selects footballers who really are the best.  And now many players have an incentive to play even better, so that they can be picked up by foreign scouts and continue their careers abroad, like Sasha Yunisoglu, whose performance for MKT-Araz in the UEFA Cup tournament against the Polish club Groclin was very much appreciated by the opponents.  So the players do have incentives, and they can fully realize their potential as early as the qualifying stage of the 2010 World Championship, which is to begin next autumn.