Azerbaijan's U-17 national team has faced losses in the squad before the qualifying round of the European Championship to be held in Bulgaria.
This was stated by the head coach of the national team, Aqil Nabiyev, in his statement to "Report".
The specialist provided information about the team's preparation schedule and travel plan:
"We have been together since the 17th, the training camp is already coming to an end. Several productive trainings have been left behind during this period. We will complete our final preparations and leave for Bulgaria. Everything is proceeding according to the pre-arranged plan and program".
The head coach highlighted the serious losses and personnel problems in the squad:
"There are certain difficulties and personnel problems. We have two players who are suspended from the first round and have filled the yellow card limit, so they will not be able to help us in the first games. In addition, there are players who have undergone surgery and cannot go to Europe with us due to various injuries. The fact that one of our main goalkeepers, Rauf Ayyubov, joined the older age group (U-19) also creates difficulties for our work. However, as a coaching staff, we are trying not to make the players feel these shortcomings and do our job at a high level".
The specialist, who stated that the opponents were analyzed in depth, spoke about his goals in the group:
"On March 24, 27 and 30, we will face the national teams of Bulgaria, Lithuania and Malta, respectively. We have analyzed all three opponents, identified their strengths and weaknesses. The match with Bulgaria, which is our starting game, is very important. We must achieve a good result in the first game in order to go to the next matches with higher motivation. Our goal is to take one of the first places in the group. I trust the team and the players. I believe that we will return from Bulgaria with the result we want".