NEW COACH’S SUCCESS

The national team of Azerbaijan will play at the final stage of the European Futsal Championship to be held in Slovenia in 2018. This success is based on the results of the qualifying tournament in Baku, where the national team won in all three games and was selected for the European Championship as the group leader.

The qualifying stage held in Baku was a tremendous responsibility and pressure on the players. Plus, it was the first test for the new head coach Biro Jade, who had long played for the national team of Azerbaijan, and by the end of his career, he accepted the proposal of the Azerbaijan Futsal Federation on coaching.

In the first game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, we could feel the excitement of the national team, which resulted in the opponent's goals. But our players have managed to cope with the excitement and turn the tide of the game. Nevertheless, our victory (5-4) made me think about the problems in the team.

The second game with an outsider, the Albanian national team, was a tremendous success for our country, when we hit five unanswered goals at the opponents' gate. After this victory, the national team of Azerbaijan would be happy even with a draw in the last game against Hungary.

However, Biro Jade’s team has demonstrated a professional game and won Hungarians (6-1). It's interesting that the first goal in the game was scored by the goalkeeper of our national team Rovshan Huseynli, who hit the ball into the gate when trying to knock it out. But the mistake of our goalkeeper was corrected by naturalized Brazilians Bolinha, Eduardo, Phineo (twice) and Azerbaijani futsal players Khatai Bagirov and Isa Atayev. Thus, the Azerbaijani team completed the qualifying tournament with a 100% result.

Biro Jade was pleased with the game of his team: "We talked a lot about this with the players. After the first two games, I noticed that home games exert more pressure and it was important to get rid of excitement and take advantage of the opponent's mistakes. And in the last game we were very attentive, that's why there was such a big difference in the score. I will not say that I was dissatisfied with the first game. Futsal is a fairly dynamic game, if you create a moment without scoring, your opponent punishes you. Do not waste time! It's good that in the end, we have managed to get together, organized the defense well and won. I will not say that the team is in perfect condition, but I saw 80% of the team performance I wanted. The players performed the trainer settings, used the moments, reliably played on the defensive. But on the continental championship the atmosphere is completely different. We need to strengthen ourselves, work on mistakes, especially since there is potential. Each team that will participate in the final stage of the European Championship sets goals, so we need to develop."

AFFA Secretary General Elkhan Mammadov noted that the futsal players achieved great success and stressed the good beginning of the coaching career of Biro Jade. "The most difficult was a match with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of course, playing at home is good but at the same time it is difficult as well. We have seen many times good performances of our team abroad. But in the last game, our team has demonstrated a top notch performance and won. I think we will continue working with Biro Jade. The team performed very well, he established good relations with the players. I think that the Executive Committee will make a positive decision about the coach. The main thing is that Biro Jade became a coach by our side. And we have plenty of time before Euro-2018 anyway. We hope for a successful performance in Slovenia," said E. Mammadov.

Naturally, the maximum result in the qualifying tournament cannot but rejoice, but for a successful performance at Euro-2018 changes in the composition are necessary. It would be nice to strengthen the line of defense by inviting a new player. On the other hand, the low level of local tournaments has an impact on the national team. In the championship there is almost no competition. Therefore, to see the real strength of the national team, one should see the matches with teams from other countries and participate in tournaments before the European Championship. Therefore, AFFA, most likely, will send the team to overseas for trainings.

Eight teams that will participate in the final part of the European Championship are already known. Along with Azerbaijan, these include the national teams of Slovenia, Italy, Ukraine, Portugal, Spain, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

Another eight teams will fight for 4 tickets of the European Championship in qualification matches: Georgia, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Czech Republic, France, and Finland.