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Interview with Con Van Loen, former sports director of the "Qarabagh" football academy, to Sportal.az
- How does "Qarabagh" look from the outside? They were also the champions of the Premier League last season. What do you think about the hegemony of your former team?
- I follow "Qarabagh" from the media. As far as I see, they win the championship very easily. The opponents are very weak for them in this sense.
- "Qarabagh" lost to "Sabah" in the final of the Azerbaijan Cup. Was this unexpected for you?
- Yes, "Qarabagh"'s defeat to "Sabah" in the cup final was unexpected for me. I assumed that players who constantly play in the squad did not play.
- "Qarabagh" will play in the Champions League this season. Do you think they will be able to reach the main stage this season?
- It depends on the draw. Sometimes you get lucky to avoid bigger clubs. If "Qarabagh" can create a good team that works well together, they can give any club a hard time.
- "Qarabagh"'s football academy has also been participating in tournaments held in several European countries in recent years. What do you think about this? We didn't see this much in previous years, now children's teams go to different tournaments. I guess it's a very good thing in terms of the academy's development?
- We participated in a tournament held in the Netherlands and I spoke with the head coach Samir Musayev and the head of the academy. After playing for years, they are making a good impression again, and this is good for all of Azerbaijan.
- How many years is Azerbaijani football behind Dutch football, and what is it lagging behind in more?
- I don't know, but there are more teams in the Netherlands capable of winning the championship. In Azerbaijan, there is only "Qarabagh". This needs to be changed by investing more and preparing academies with better training, better coaches. I also know that more money needs to be allocated, a good academy head is needed to pay more attention to academy children and effectively control everything.
- You are probably familiar with the "Gabala" football academy. The club has issued a statement about the restriction of the academy's activities. If academies are closed, how will our football develop?
- If football academies are closed, you will no longer be able to create any national team. Because no young players will come from there. Without football academies, football in Azerbaijan will "die". This is a blow from behind for all football clubs and young players who want to become professional players.
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