Afran Ismayilov: "We need results now, we must win"

"We need to win every game now."

Idman.biz reports that these words were said by Afran Ismayilov, former football player of the Azerbaijani national team, to Sport24.az.

The 36-year-old former midfielder shared his views on the friendly match the national team will play against the Latvian national team today: "The period of checking some players and preparing someone is over. The head coach knows enough football players. We need results now. The players have no motivation because we cannot win. Defeat also leads us to sadness and we cannot prepare seriously for the next matches. Therefore, it is imperative to win in the match against Latvia. We need to raise motivation so that we can play normally in official matches."

Ismayilov recalled that the national team's last victory was recorded 1 year ago: "This is really sad. Therefore, we only think about winning. The main factor for victory may be that the team gathers together and thinks about all this. Let them think that we last won a year ago. Latvia is also a suitable opponent for us. We must definitely show one of our best games today. The next opponent is Hungary. No matter how strong they are, we must try and fight. We can at least get a draw. If there is such an approach, we can slowly come to our senses."

The former member of the national team said that the leaders in the team also play an important role: "If there is a leader, he must step forward. He must gather the team. Aside from the coach, the players themselves can move the team forward even more thanks to their motivation and desires."

It should be noted that the Latvia-Azerbaijan match, which will be held in Riga today, will start at 17:00 Baku time.

Idman.biz