Sport24.az
"The game displayed by the Azerbaijan national team against Ukraine (1:2) in the qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup was rarely seen". Sport24.az reports that these words were said to "Report" by the former captain of the national team and "Qarabagh" Maksim Medvedev.
He emphasized that the players tried to fulfill the coach's instructions:
"We have rarely seen such a game from the national team. Ukraine is a good team, they have quality players, and our tactics were purely in accordance with this. Attempts to build the game from defense and launch quick attacks were successful in some moments. For example, if we remember the goal episode, we equalized the score after Elvin Jafarguliyev's pass and a good pass. It was felt that the children were trying to fulfill the coach's instructions. Although they couldn't play with the ball much. The advantage was with the Ukrainian team and they controlled the game. This is normal. Because it is difficult to play open football against the Ukrainian national team on the road".
The former defender said that it is gratifying that the team is trying to create dangerous episodes:
"After the second goal, our national team started to show completely different - more active and offensive football. They tried to build attacks in the second zone with flank changes. Maybe many people liked this game, because the number of passes had increased. We were trying to create concrete dangerous episodes, which is gratifying. I personally liked that we could do it. Both the right and left flanks were actively working. When the team was behind with a score of 1:2, they switched to attack because there was nothing left to lose. In this case, our game was more meaningful. I believe that we will repeat this in the next matches. It was felt that the players were fighting. We could build attacks, they were fighting. If this continues, I am sure that we will see a stronger national team".
Medvedev also shared his thoughts on the changes in the team after Aykhan Abbasov was appointed head coach: "When many coaches came to the Azerbaijan national team, they preferred the "five-man defense". But simply building a system is not enough. Aykhan Abbasov either analyzes the opponents very well, or explains the team correctly. He explained the players' duties, which zone to close and how to control the opponents. This was also visible on the field. For example, when the game continued on the right flank, the player on the left joined the attack. But we had never seen such a thing before. We rarely used through passes. The players remained passive during the attack. I think the previous system remains. The head coach has simply improved the details of the system, so the game looks a bit different".
It should be noted that the Azerbaijan national team lost to Ukraine 1:2 in Krakow, Poland. The meeting between the teams in Baku on September 9 ended with a score of 1:1.
