Sport24.az
"We haven't spoken about the national team with heart, desire, and ease for a long time. It's nice and joyful to say something this time." These words were said by former Azerbaijani national team football player Afran Ismayilov in his statement to Sport24.az.
The 37-year-old former midfielder shared his thoughts on the team's loss to Ukraine (1:2) in the qualifying round of the DÇ-2026:
"The determination, desire, and the game we want to see are slowly coming back. I believe that tactics and the game will develop further over time. Everything will fall into place. I want to thank the national team's head coach, Aykhan Abbasov, very much. He was able to gather the team quickly. They achieved a draw with Ukraine in Baku. They showed determination in the meeting with France in Paris. Yesterday, we also saw struggle and determination in the match against Ukraine. That meeting could have ended in a draw. If we had taken advantage of the opportunity in the first minutes, it would have been possible to win."
Ismayilov recalled that the team's chances in Group D were slim from the beginning:
"But our game has improved. Determination, national spirit is back. This is also a welcome development. I believe that from now on, Iceland will not be able to score 5-6 goals against us easily. I hope that we will win at least one point in Baku, in front of our fans. Everyone is eager. We will achieve better results gradually. This is visible in the national team. There are football and football players in Azerbaijan. It is just necessary to manage them and make them play well. Aykhan Abbasov does this very well. He knows the players well. I wish our team success in the upcoming matches."
