Head coach of Azerbaijani national team: "We are not at the level of Bulgaria, our youth needs time"

The Azerbaijani women's basketball team is far behind Bulgaria in terms of level. Sport24.az reports that this was stated by the team's head coach, Evren Alkaya.

The expert assessed the match they lost to the Bulgarian team in the first round of the qualifying stage of the European Championship to be held in 2027:

"It was a very difficult game for us. We did not take a step back in any way against Bulgaria. Our children are very young. True, we are far behind in terms of level. Bulgaria played with full force. Anyway, our goal in the competition is to play these children as much as possible and prepare for the next matches. We are trying to bring the team to the highest possible quality."

E. Alkaya also emphasized that time is needed to form the team:

"Last year we defeated Denmark, Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina in Division B. When playing with rivals at this level, the team can do good things. We want a little patience and time for the children. We have really brought the team to this platform in a short time and they have a lot to learn. The biggest basketball player in the team is 18 years old. There are also 15-year-olds. I think that in a few years we will form a team that will play at least more beautiful basketball."

It should be noted that the Azerbaijani national team lost to Bulgaria with a score of 141:48 in the first game of the qualifying stage of the European Championship to be held in 2027.