Idman.biz
Despite his relatively young age, 21-year-old Shahin Shahniyarov has been one of the main players of "Gabala" in recent years. The figures for the current season also confirm this - he participated in all 17 matches played by "Gabala" and appeared in the starting lineup in 16 of them.
Idman.Biz presents an interview with the midfielder of "Gabala" to the attention of readers.
- Shahin, you are originally from Ganja, but you play for "Gabala". How did this happen?
- The thing is that since the age of eight I have been playing football in Ganja under the leadership of my first coach, Rafiq Gurbanov. I played there in the "Azeri TIM" children's team. But since there were no suitable conditions for my development as a football player in Ganja, at the insistence of my uncle, I moved to the "Gabala" academy. He was able to convince both me and my parents. I'm glad I listened to him (smiles). To be completely honest, few clubs have the conditions created in "Gabala" for football players from a young age.
Of course, this is very good. Because during my time at the Gabala Football Academy, I played in the national teams of almost all youth teams, from U15 to U21. In addition, I also had the opportunity to play in the main national team. True, I only played one game for the country's main team - a friendly against the Belarus team in March last year. I was invited by Fernandu Santush at that time. Then, in official games, he apparently didn't take a risk (laughs).
- Did Aykhan Abbasov take a risk?
- Aykhan muellim sent an invitation to both me and Khayal Aliyev from "Sabah". As soon as he was appointed to Santush's place, he called us and talked. He said that it is better for us to play regularly in U21 than to sit on the bench in the main national team. I think he was absolutely right.
- But this year the U21 limit ends for you due to age...
- That's why I will do my best to get into the main national team! After all, I played in the national team even when "Gabala" was playing in the first league.
- But now there is a high probability that "Gabala" will fall there again.
- We will not allow this! Both I and all the other players of our club are absolutely sure that we will keep our place in the Premier League. We have both the strength and the potential for this. Even in conversations among ourselves, not a single football player of our team doubts this!
- By the way, speaking of potential. You have not scored a single goal in the Premier League this season, although you have not missed a single game of "Gabala" in the championship. For a midfielder, this is, to put it mildly, a weak indicator. Is this how the desire to stay in the Premier League and at the same time get into the national team looks like?
- Yes, you are right, I have not scored a goal, but I have made three assists. Of course, this is also not enough for a football player of my level. I will try to score as many goals as possible in the remaining games of our team.
- When you score your first goal, who will you dedicate it to?
- To be honest, I haven't thought about it... But I guess to my mother. True, she probably won't know about it, because she doesn't come to my games (laughs). Unlike my uncle and brother, they come from Ganja and regularly watch Gabala's games, while my mother only watches our matches on television.
