Idman.biz
Azerbaijan's U-19 national football team faced losses before the European Championship qualifying round, and this factor affected the team's results.
These words were said by Ilham Yadullayev, the head coach of U-19.
According to the specialist, injuries in the defense line before the tournament affected the team's game:
"We couldn't get what we wanted from the players. We had seriously prepared for the qualifying round, and we also held two friendly matches in Moldova. Then we identified the squad and started preparing. However, we had key players injured in the national championship. In particular, we had losses in the defense line. We invited new football players without international experience to replace them. It is difficult to make changes in defense, and this inexperience manifested itself in the game with Lithuania. We gave a chance to 3-4 new players in the first match. We had analyzed Lithuania, it is a very dynamic, physically and tactically disciplined team," he said in his statement to report.az.
I.Yadullayev explained the reasons for the defeat in the match against Northern Ireland:
"We came to this match more motivated and strengthened the squad with players with international experience. Although we lost the first match, we had a chance to finish the group in the first place if we won the second game. We had the advantage in the first part of the match against Northern Ireland and opened the score. However, in the second half, we conceded a goal from a standard situation due to individual mistakes. Although we had chances to stand out, we could not take advantage of them. Fatigue was felt towards the end of the game, and we saw the second goal in our goal because we could not keep up physically."
He also touched upon the psychological state of the players:
"After the defeat, there is discouragement. We try to show the mistakes with the analysis of the games and to gather the children psychologically so that they do not get used to defeat. They are members of clubs competing for leadership, such as "Sabah", "Neftchi", "Qarabag". We do not want the players to return to their clubs with discouragement."
Ilham Yadullayev spoke about future plans:
"The next qualifying round will be in November, and a draw should be held by then. We must continue preparations with friendly games."
It should be noted that U-19, which took place in the 6th group of League B in the qualifying round of the European Championship, stopped the fight by losing to Lithuania 0:4 and Northern Ireland 1:2.
