"It was difficult to focus on this match after the defeat to the Icelandic national team."
Idman.biz reports that these words were said by Azerbaijani national team footballer Ceyhun Nuriyev in his statement to AZERTAC, while talking about the 1:1 draw with Ukraine in the second round of the qualifying stage of the 2026 World Cup.
He stated that they won a well-deserved point: "We believed that we would win a point before the match with Ukraine. My teammates fought hard."
The 24-year-old midfielder also spoke about the national team's former head coach Fernandu Santuş and Aykhan Abbasov, who was temporarily appointed to this position: "It would be a lie if I said that there was no self-confidence in the national team during Santuş's time. It's just that nothing worked out in the match against Iceland. Aykhan Abbasov also tried to do something in a short period of time. I thank him too."
Nuriyev said that the point they gained will give the team a stimulus in the upcoming matches: "This point was really important to us. I would say that with the result the national team achieved here, they can play well against other opponents as well. The match against Ukraine showed that we can fight against such teams."
It should be noted that the Azerbaijani national team, which is in Group D, is in the last - fourth place with 1 point.
Idman.biz