Sport24.az
The Azerbaijani national team faced the Ukrainian national team today in the 4th round of the D-2026 qualifying stage in Krakow, Poland. After the match, Mahir Emreli, a football player of the Azerbaijani national team, answered journalists' questions at a briefing attended by an employee of Sport24.az.
- What can you say about the matches of our national team against France and Ukraine?
- We played defensive football against France. We tried to prevent the opponent's attacks. Everyone knows the strength of France. Even opponents stronger than us have difficulty playing against the French national team. In the game against Ukraine, it was felt from the team's desire that we wanted to achieve a good result. There is no football player in the national team who does not love the country. When the system is correct, we can show the game we want against the opponent.
- Fans criticized you for your weak performance in the game against France. Can it be said that you were kept in reserve today because of that game?
- I don't believe that Aykhan muellim made a decision because of this. It was agreed in advance that experienced football players were needed in the game against France, so I was given preference. Everyone did their best in the match against the French. I can't understand what people are dissatisfied with. Maybe we should take a positive approach to this. We didn't give France a chance to score for 45 minutes. Inside the field, we ourselves began to believe that we could get points (laughs). But the opponent has top-level football players and they decided the fate of the game.
- We only hit the target 2 accurate shots in two games. How much of a chance can this create to win?
- One of the shots was a goal (laughs). I understand that you pay attention to such moments. I have played in several countries. I have witnessed that media representatives first look at the negative and then at the positive. Actually, this is a good thing. We must take into account that this is Aykhan muellim's third game. There was no big difference in the two games held in Ukraine. Just a new coach, a new system... We haven't had much time to be together. Not only me, but also some football players do not play regularly in their teams because the limit has been lifted in the local championship.
- Did you hear that Iceland drew with France?
- Yes, I saw it as soon as the match ended. Teams like France and Iceland have been playing together for years. Now our head coach is local. He knows our mentality and this gives us additional motivation. Over time, we will prove that we are a good nation. At least we can compete head-to-head with these opponents.
