Idman.biz
The friendly match between "Khankendi" and "Zangezur" football clubs, held today in the capital, will be remembered as a symbolic encounter in the history of Azerbaijani football.
Idman.Biz reports that the rivals entered this game in different situations. "Khankendi", led by Zaur Hashimov, is already considered one of the leaders of the II League, having gained a certain status.
"Zangezur", on the other hand, is still a very young project: the club was founded only five months ago, but has already managed to make its mark in the Regional League.
The initiative to hold the meeting came from the leadership of "Zangezur". It is interesting that the president of the club, Shahin Mammadov, also performs the functions of head coach. In order not to disrupt the training schedule of the more status opponent playing in the II League, the match was scheduled for 11:00.
In addition to the symbolic meaning, the match attracted attention with its participating teams. Experienced fans had the opportunity to see famous football players on the field. Former members of the Azerbaijani national team, Javid Imamverdiyev and Ruslan Poladov, appeared in the "Zangezur" squad. It should be noted that 47-year-old Poladov is currently the oldest player in the country's football.
"Khankendi" also had its leaders. The team's captain Aziz Huseynov and former "Kapaz" football player Elvin Nasibov distinguished themselves in the game. Nasibov said before the match that he would score two goals, but in the end he fulfilled this plan "with interest".
The game, held on the reserve field of the Ismat Gayibov Stadium, turned out to be extremely spectacular and productive. The execution of some of the goals was not inferior to the best episodes of the leading European championships in terms of beauty. The score was 2:2 before the break. In particular, the goal scored by "Zangezur" striker Elgun Abbasli directly from a corner kick will be remembered as a rare episode. Although he formalized his double in the second half, this was not enough to save "Zangezur" from defeat, and the team lost with a score of 4:7, which is extremely rare in football. Elvin Nasibov scored a hat-trick in "Khankendi".
It is regrettable that such an interesting and high-scoring game was held almost without spectators and outside the attention of the media. Apart from the author of these lines, there were no other journalists at the meeting.
