The First Cup Winner "Inshaatchi": Memories from the Head Coach

"Inshaatchi, the winner of the first Azerbaijan Cup in 1992, deserved to win the title."

Idman.Biz reports that Mammadali Mammadov, who was the head coach of the team at that time, said this in an interview with the press service of the Professional Football League.

The expert touched upon many interesting points related to the first final match of the tournament:

"If we are talking about 1992, that year was historic for us. There were no star players in our team. We tried to show our strength by demonstrating collective play. We were a team worthy of winning the cup."

M.Mammadov also spoke about his interesting dialogues with the club leader before the final match, as well as about the opponents in the cup:

"The head of the house-building plant, who was our sponsor, gave us a good promise at a meeting held two days before the game. He said that if you win the cup, one of the team members will receive a two-room house, and the others will receive a cash prize. We received a cash prize for each stage we passed in the cup. In the 1/4 final, our opponent was "Neftchi". I told my players that if we beat "Neftchi", then we will win the cup ourselves. We won with a score of 2:1 and qualified for the semi-finals. Here our opponent was "Khazar" (Sumgayit), which had the same strength as "Neftchi". We won in the post-match penalty shootout and reached the final. In the final, we defeated "Kur" (Mingachevir) and wrote a glorious history."

He added that there was a state of war in the country in 1992:

"Teams treated each other with understanding and helped each other. Some time after winning the cup, we went to Tovuz for a game. We were greeted solemnly, with bouquets of flowers. It was an unforgettable feeling. We were disappointed that we lost some of our players. But the season was memorable because we wrote our names in history. Every year when the cup final is held, I get emotional when the commentators mention the name of the "Inshaatchi" team. Although that team no longer exists, it still lives in our hearts."

It should be reminded that in the final of the current season of the Azerbaijan Cup, "Sabah" and "Zira" teams will face each other. The match will start on May 13 at 20:00 at "Palms Sports Arena".