Maksim Medvedev: Footballers must give 100 percent in the match against Hungary

To win against Hungary in today's friendly match, the Azerbaijani national team's footballers must give one hundred percent of what they can.

This was stated to "Report" by the former captain of the national team, Maksim Medvedev.

He believes that the Hungarian national team will play open football:

"Hungary has more high-level players in their squad. Therefore, we must be very careful, persistent, and cool-headed. Our footballers are also experienced, most of them have played at the European level. If they make minimal mistakes, understand each other on the field, it will be possible to achieve a result. A lot depends on the game. Sometimes it works out, and a good result is achieved. Sometimes, despite the weakness of the opponent, the game doesn't work out. The role of the head coach is also very important here. What strategy he will build, how he will make the players play... The players must also be responsible, fulfill the coach's instructions, and give 100 percent of what they can to win."

M.Medvedev stated the importance of being as careful as possible in positions:

"I haven't watched the last matches of the Hungarian national team. I don't even know who is currently playing in the squad. From the times I played, I knew that it was always the best team. It is very difficult to play against them. Because they have physically strong, fast, and technical players. Therefore, we must be careful in every episode, in positions. Because if you give such an opponent a little chance, leave a gap, they will punish you."

The former defender also evaluated the result of the friendly match against Latvia on June 7:

"Before the game with Latvia, I looked at the squads and the system. It seemed that both teams chose defensive football: one preferred the 5-4-1 system, the other the 5-3-2 system. The teams were a little wary of each other. None of them risked playing open football. Therefore, the game was more closed, and the intensity was also low. We saw that the national team mainly preferred long passes. However, some tasks did not work out due to the closed game. True, we could have won, but we drew. Although the draw with the Latvian national team was not encouraging, it was not upsetting either. Because it was an away game."

It should be noted that the Azerbaijan-Hungary match will start today at 20:00 at the "Liv Bona Dea Arena". The team, coached by Fernandu Santuş, drew goalless in a friendly match with Latvia on June 7.