Report.az
Ayxan Abbasov, the head coach of the Azerbaijan national team consisting of football players under 21 years old, shared his thoughts on the training camp.
"Report" informs that the 43-year-old expert, who gave an interview to the AFFA press service, first spoke about the test match (0:3) held with the A national team.
He recalled that the training match took place:
"I thank Fernando Santos, the head coach of the main national team. Although we were with the full team, some members of the main national team were not at the camp because they participated in the final game of the Azerbaijan Cup. Two halves of 35 minutes each were played, and both teams tested all the players. Being on the field with the players of the A national team was an additional motivation for our players. Holding such test matches is beneficial for the players."
As part of the preparation, our U-21 team will hold a friendly match with the corresponding age group team of Belarus on June 4 at the Baranovichi city stadium, and with Montenegro on June 8 at the Mehdi Huseynzade Sumgayit city stadium.
The head coach said that the goal in those matches will be to win: "This is our second preparation in the U-21 national team. Our first training camp was organized in Antalya. There are some new players in the squad. We want to improve even more as a team in each training camp. It is good for us that the opponents we will face in friendly matches are ahead in the ranking. Performing against strong teams only has a positive effect. We will face Belarus away and Montenegro at home. Considering that there will be home and away games in the qualifying round, we have to get used to it. We will fight to win in both matches. The players must focus on the maximum result on the field. These matches will also help the players gain international experience."
Ayxan Abbasov emphasized that they analyzed the Belarus and Montenegro national teams: "I can only say good things about the opponents. I watched the last two friendly matches of Belarus. They won against North Macedonia in Antalya and against Turkey in Istanbul. Their U-21 team, in particular, has developed a lot in recent years. Montenegrin football players mainly live as legionnaires in other countries. In a word, they are interesting opponents. Facing such teams will help our development."
