Yannis Anastasiou's interview about Azerbaijani football and his favorite players

An interview with AZERTAC by Yannis Anastasiou, a former football player of the Greek national team who played for famous clubs such as Ajax in the Netherlands and Anderlecht in Belgium during his career, and worked as a head coach at Panathinaikos in his country, as well as Omonia in Cyprus last season.

- "Aris" will face the Azerbaijani representative "Araz-Nakhchivan" in the Conference League. How do you assess the chances in this game?

- "Aris" has changed its squad compared to last season. Many new players have been brought into the team this year. Therefore, it is difficult to say anything about them. Everything will depend on the preparation process. As for "Araz-Nakhchivan", I have no information about this team.

- The "Omonia" club, which you recently left, faced "Zira" in the play-off stage of the UEFA Conference League last season. How do you remember those matches (6:0, 0:1)?

- We gained a big advantage with a 6:0 score in the first match. Although "Zira" is not an easily defeated team. But we analyzed the opponent well and won thanks to excellent work. The return match was easy for us.

- In general, how informed are you about Azerbaijani football?

- I have watched the games of "Qarabag", which successfully represents Azerbaijan in European Cups, as well as "Sumgayit", "Sabah" and "Neftchi". I have information about your league. There are some interesting players I like there.

- Which of the players you like can you name?

- I can name Aleksey Kashchuk, Kevin Medina, Kadi Borges, Abdullah Zubir in "Qarabag", and Issa Djibrilla, Pierre Zebli and Salifu Soumah from "Zira". These are players who make a difference in your league.

- Looking back at the period when you worked at "Panathinaikos", your team faced "Gabala" in the play-off stage of the UEFA Europa League in 2015. Thanks to the away goal, the Azerbaijani representative qualified for the group stage of the tournament for the first time in its history (red: first game 0:0, second match 2:2). How do you remember that match?

- To be honest, that meeting was 10 years ago. Therefore, I don't remember much.

- Valdas Dambrauskas, with whom you worked together at "Omonia" last season, has been appointed as the head coach of "Sabah". How do you think, can he succeed in the Azerbaijani club?

- Valdas knows Azerbaijani football and culture. He is a coach who likes to play attacking football. I think he can be successful. But a lot also depends on the goals of the club.

İdman.biz