Report.az
Aqil Nabiyev, the head coach of the Azerbaijan U-17 national football team, was satisfied with the training camp held in Gabala.
The specialist stated this in an interview with "Report".
He evaluated the results of the test matches they played against the national teams of Kazakhstan (2:0) and Georgia (1:1) during the training camp in Gabala:
"In both matches, the children really showed a high performance. We played superior football, dominated. We had many scoring chances. In the first game, we defeated Kazakhstan 2:0. In the match with Georgia, we conceded a goal in added time. The team lacks a certain level of skill. I believe that if we have a little time, it is possible to do good things. In both games, we gave a place in the starting "11" to three football players who are one year younger. We want to support the U-16s and other age groups and open the way for the children. This is also a motivation for other younger football players on the way to getting an invitation to the national team. I am satisfied with the team, we could have been even better."
The head coach emphasized the shortcomings and said that another training camp is planned before the games in the first stage of the European Championship:
"We have to leave for Europe before the beginning of October. We don't have much time left. We have already finished the third training camp. We plan to hold another training camp before the European Championship starts. We would also like to have more preparation processes. I was satisfied with the Gabala training camp that we started on June 1. The development is obvious. We see both the formation of the team and the positive results. Of course, there are also shortcomings. Especially in the central line. I am trying different position players in the center. One of our main players, Amin Rzayev, was not with us because he was invited to the U-21. We had injured football players, we could not invite them. We have planned the next training camp for two months later. Good things can be done in this team. I believe that we can show a more successful result."
He stated that they were drawn into a difficult group in the first stage of the 2025/2026 season of the European Championship:
"It is true that we have been drawn into a difficult group in the qualifying round of the European Championship. We will fight with France, Israel and Romania. But we are not going there to give up. We want to show good results and take one of the first two places and get out of the group."
It should be noted that U-17, which is in Group IX in the first stage of the European Championship, will compete with the national teams of France, Israel and Romania. The first stage games will be held between July and November 2025.
