Ayxan Abbasov: "The players didn't want to lose, we need to get used to this, the tempo of the championship should increase"

"It's difficult to say anything in football beforehand."

Idman.Biz reports that these words were said by the head coach of the Azerbaijani national team, Aykhan Abbasov, after the qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup against Ukraine.

The match ended with a score of 2:1 in favor of the Ukrainians.

"We gained a point after Iceland. Everyone thought that the children came from a long way. Sometimes when there is desire and spirit, they don't feel tired. Emin Mahmudov is the best in the team in terms of physical performance. Maybe Emin didn't have the strength. But how he did the sliding tackle. All the players, even though they were tired, were fighting. They didn't want to lose. We need to get used to this. I told the players in the morning not to make fatigue a psychological problem for ourselves. The opponent also came from the road. We need to get used to it. The tournament requires it," Abbasov said.

The head coach also gave some recommendations to be able to play a game every three days: "The foundation of our players should get used to this from a young age. Maybe we need to increase the number of games in the leagues. Maybe if we played the first game against Ukraine, it would be different. The tempo of our championship should increase, it would be better if our players played for 90 minutes."

Idman.Biz