Azerbaijan national women's football team defender Nigar Mirzaliyeva has recently won the Russian Super Cup with "Zenit". The St. Petersburg club defeated Moscow's "Lokomotiv" 3:0 in the decisive match. The 23-year-old footballer, who has been wearing "Zenit"'s uniform since 2022, is considered one of the leading figures of the team. She is even often included in the symbolic team of the round in the Russian championship. Nigar Mirzaliyeva, who won the Russian Super Cup for the second time with "Zenit", also won the national championship title in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. The team currently leads the tournament table in the ongoing 2025 season. In an interview with the official website of AFFA, the national team's football player shared her impressions of her success and talked about her future plans.
- How does it feel to be the winner of the Russian Super Cup? - This is the second time we have won the Super Cup in Russia. We are very happy about this. We prepared seriously for the Super Cup match with "Lokomotiv" as we did for previous matches. The girls and coaches have put in a lot of effort in this success. As a team, we showed character and won.
- What was the most memorable moment for you in the match with "Lokomotiv"? - The most memorable moment for me was showing character as a team. The first half ended in a goalless draw. However, in the second half, we followed the head coach's instructions, showed a determined game and won.
- Considering your performance in "Rubin", you have been continuing your career in Russia for 4 years. What do you owe your stable game there to? - I am spending my third season in "Zenit". I have a great love for football. I owe my successful performances to this. I think that if you do something with love, you will definitely succeed. I love my job very much, I take my training seriously. This also helps me to achieve success. I will do everything necessary to ensure that this continues both in the national team and in "Zenit".
- What are your future plans? Considering that you are only 23 years old, don't you want to play in bigger leagues? - Of course, it would be great to play in bigger leagues. I would like to be the first Azerbaijani female football player to play in the leading football countries of Europe.
- Do you have offers from those countries? - I have received offers from some clubs. "Zenit" has also offered a new contract. But I'm still thinking about it. If I get an invitation from strong European clubs, I will definitely consider it.
- How do you assess the development of women's football in Azerbaijan? - Women's football in Azerbaijan has just started to develop. We are already achieving some success. We are fighting for our country, our flag.
- Our national women's football team will compete again in the UEFA Nations League in 2026. What will be the goal this time? - We will definitely perform successfully in next year's Nations League. We will definitely prepare seriously and try to win against any teams that fall into our group. Our goal will be to win the group in the Nations League. I trust our team, we will be able to do it.
Sport24.az
