Ismaheel Akinade: "I don't like playing on artificial turf, but if that's the condition, we have to play"

Ismaheel Akinade, the new transfer of "Gabala," played for the Irish clubs "Bray Wanderers," "Bohemians," and "Waterford" in the early years of his football career. The 32-year-old striker joined the Azerbaijani team from "Andijan," which competes in the Uzbekistan championship.

I. Akinade debuted for the "red-blacks" in the 17th-round match of the Azerbaijan Premier League, which they won 4:0 against "Shamakhi" away. The experienced forward, who was in the starting lineup, was on the field until the end and scored his team's third goal in the 81st minute.

We present the interview of Ismaheel Akinade to sportnet.az.

- How do you assess the game?

- We applied everything we learned in training in this game. We showed a good performance and won a deserved victory.

- You scored your first goal in your first game. What is your next goal?

- I want to score in every game. If I get chances, I will try to take advantage of them. We have a good team, we create good episodes, we work well. If we continue like this, I will be able to score my next goals.

- You train on natural turf in Gabala. In Shamakhi, you played on artificial turf. Did you feel the difference?

- I used to play on artificial turf in Ireland. I am used to it. True, I don't like playing on artificial turf, but if that's the condition, we have to play. Both teams played under the same conditions. So everything is fine for me.

- You also played in the Uzbekistan championship. Were there artificial pitches there too?

- No, there weren't.

- Can you compare the Azerbaijani and Uzbek championships?

- It's too early to say. I still have to play a few games here. After that, my ideas about the differences will take shape.

- You probably know about "Qarabag's" performances in the UEFA Champions League in Azerbaijan. Are there teams of this level in Uzbekistan?

- There are top clubs in Uzbekistan, such as "Neftchi Fergana" and "Nasaf." But they don't have the chance to show results in continental competitions like "Qarabag" and "Sabah." Therefore, it would not be correct to compare the clubs of the two countries.