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An interview with Sasha Yunisoglu, the former defender of the Azerbaijan national team, to Sportal.az
- The Azerbaijan national team also lost in the match against Hungary. Do you think the national team could have achieved a successful result in this match, or how? Is it possible to think that our national team cannot even beat San Marino now?
- I don't believe that our national team will lose even to San Marino, it won't be that much. Looking at these last two games, I think the players looked tired after a tough season. Some of them played close to 50 games during the year. It is very difficult to find strength and motivation for such insignificant friendly matches. Everyone wants to rest. Because in 10-15 days preparations for the next season will begin. Hungary is a very good, high-level team consisting of players playing in strong clubs. Their level allows them to show quality football at the end of the season.
- Could a successful result have been achieved in that match?
- It seemed that the Hungarians were not putting all their strength into it either. Latvia, on the other hand, was playing at home and was preparing for the qualifying match against Albania. They took the game against us very seriously. As a result, we could not win in these games.
- Many experts in Azerbaijan think that there is no national spirit in our national team, in our football players. Do you think so too?
- I don't believe that the players playing in the national team do not realize their responsibility when they step onto the field. This is not possible. I wouldn't say that we suffer from a lack of national spirit. Our national team has a level problem. The players play as best they can.
- Maybe the team needs to be assembled from scratch?
- Currently, 95 percent of the children gathered in the national team are the best in Azerbaijan. Almost everyone plays in the Azerbaijan championship. Except for Mahir Emreli and Renat Dadashov, that's how it is. I don't count the Turkish first league and the Albanian championship. Because these championships are not stronger than our Premier League. Our Premier League is also not at the required level. Football players who show off in Azerbaijan lose to their opponents in Europe in all components. There can be no talk of spirit here. You can't rebuild the team again. Because there are no more football players left.
- What do you think, what is our main problem, the head coach or the football player? The national team is waiting for a game against France. Some expect the "Auxerre tragedy" to be repeated. Do you think so too?
- The problems of Azerbaijani football and our national team are known to everyone. These problems are neither in the football players nor in the head coach. It is necessary to raise the level of our football. But how do we raise it? If Premier League clubs cannot find a field to train on, imagine what the situation is like with children's football. First of all, infrastructure is very important. If you don't have a good factory, how will you produce a good quality car? Azerbaijanis play in the national team, but there are problems with training football players. Because there is no infrastructure. The fields where children play are in terrible condition. In addition, in order to have a good national team, at least 15-20 Azerbaijani football players must live the life of a legionnaire in good leagues, so that the national team coach has a choice of football players who can play in Europe, which is also not available.
The good thing is that the AFFA leadership is slowly starting to eliminate these problems. We have started taking the right steps on the path of development. But we are very late, modern football is moving forward rapidly. Fernandu Santush is a very good experienced coach, a coach who can benefit us. But I think that in the current stage of development, he will not be able to help us in any way. Let's compare football to cars. Let's say our national team now looks like a "Lada 07", it's not "Formula 1", so there is no need to call Schumacher to drive "07". We have our own "car enthusiasts". We have enough talented local specialists. Which can stand at the head of our national team with all their heart.
It is difficult to say something before the France game. Of course, France is one of the best in the world. But this is football, anything can happen. Personally, I expect a good, worthy fighting game from our national team. Those who expect a "tragedy" from our national team in the match against France are enemies of our football. I wish our national team success.
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