"AFFA's decision to part ways with Fernando Santos was the right one."
Idman.biz reports that these words were said by Aftandil Hajiyev, chief coordinator of the "Qarabag" Football Academy, in his statement to AZERTAC.
The specialist commented on the resignation of Fernando Santos from the post of head coach of the Azerbaijan national team: "It is known to everyone that this step was not taken in one day. Under the leadership of the Portuguese specialist, our national team could not achieve results, there were no victories. In recent games, it was felt that the national spirit and motivation of the players had decreased. The team seemed to enter matches without confidence. For this reason, the decision was not unexpected for me."
According to him, positive changes are expected in the game of the national team under the leadership of Aykhan Abbasov, who was appointed as interim head coach: "Aykhan Abbasov is a young and motivated specialist. I believe that with his leadership, the national spirit will return to the players, even if it is for one game. We did not start the qualifying round of the World Championship in a good mood. A 0:5 defeat to Iceland, considered one of the weakest teams in the group, was not good at all. Then the resignation of the head coach before the match with Ukraine is also not a good thing. But I hope that we will be able to leave today's match with at least 1 point. Because we have managed to score points in previous matches against teams of this level."
A. Hajiyev noted that the most important thing at this stage for the Azerbaijani national team is the psychological state: "It is very important to instill confidence in the players in the team and maintain unity. Otherwise, undesirable results may continue. I hope that the change will be a new beginning for the national team."
It should be noted that today's Azerbaijan-Ukraine match, which will be held at the Tofig Bahramov Republican Stadium, will start at 20:00.
Idman.biz