Sport24.az
Rashad Eyyubov, the head coach of our U-21 national team, spoke to journalists before the match against Portugal in the qualifying round of EURO-2027. reports that the young coach announced the main goal of our team in tomorrow's match.
- Tomorrow you will play against a strong opponent like Portugal. How difficult or easy is it to prepare footballers for such a match?
- Do you know what was difficult for us? Some of our players play in the Reserve League. Some are in the First League and the Premier League. The biggest difficulty was how to find a balance physically so that everyone is in the same condition. That was the first difficulty. We are fully prepared for this game physically. The second issue is a tactical issue. From this point of view, we tried to convey maximum information to the players in a short time. All that remains is the mental issue. This depends on the players themselves. I always tell the players to believe in themselves, set your goals to the maximum. It is necessary to show this not only in words, but also in deeds on the field.
- What is the main goal of the Azerbaijan national team in this game, not to lose by as big a score as possible, or to draw?
- I am always sincere. I can say that our main goal is to prepare our players for the A national team. Because this is the U-21 national team. It is very important that the players get positive experience and when they take the next step, they are mentally ready for victories. It doesn't matter, we are playing against Portugal or another nation. No opponent can want victory more than we do.
- They say that time is the cure for everything. Do you think that the trace of the 0:5 defeat in the first round has not remained in the players? In any case, it was a heavy defeat..
- Of course, such defeats are not erased from memory, the players understand this. We have also talked about this. We will do our best to leave the Portugal meeting with a positive result.
- Rufat Abbasov is in the U-21 national team, and Khayal Aliyev is in the main national team. How was your conversation with Aykhan Abbasov? Can Khayal Aliyev join you on the trip to Bulgaria?
- The priority is the main national team. We are also preparing players for there. Of course, Khayal is a very important player for us. You see that we had some problems in the attack. Agadadash Salyanski gets very few minutes. We have to play some players in other positions.
- Did you include Suleiman Hasanov, who belongs to Sabah but protects the goal of Araz-Nakhchivan on loan, in your wide list?
- Of course, we are aware of him. We have more than 100 players on our wide list. We follow all the players. Suleiman is also on that list. Only in this case, there is Khayal Feyzullayev, who always gets minutes in the Premier League. Salim Hashimov also performed well last year. Sadiq Ramazanov also plays in the First League, he is a very promising goalkeeper. There are many goalkeepers. There may be rotations in the future.
- The game usually takes place in the evening. Did holding this game at 15:00 affect your preparation?
- No. Most players are used to playing at these times.
