Idman.biz
"Our group is interesting and quite competitive. Although most of our rivals are familiar teams, we expect every meeting to be difficult."
Idman.Biz reports that these words were said by Orkhan Huseynov, Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Minifootball Federation, while assessing the chances of the national team at the European Championship to be held in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.
In his statement to AZERTAC, he reminded that the Azerbaijani national team will play its first group stage match against Austria: "We will face this team at the national level for the first time. We have faced France and Italy before. At the last European Championship - in 2024, held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, we were in almost the same group. At that time, our rivals were France, Italy and Belgium. This time, Austria is in the same group with us instead of Belgium. We will almost compete with the same rivals again."
The Secretary General recalled previous matches against the French and Italian national teams: "We first faced both teams at the international tournament held in Baku in 2023 and won both matches with a minimal score. Our next matches took place at the 2024 European Championship. Our national team also won those matches. In particular, the match with Italy was very tense and difficult."
O.Huseynov also shared his thoughts on the opponents' preparation process: "We do not have extensive information about the current situation of the Italian national team. No information has been shared about their preparation. The French national team participated in an international tournament held in England. Austria played its last test matches in competitions held in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia."
The federation official emphasized that there are well-known football players in the squads of some teams: "There are no longer some previously known football players in the Italian, French and Austrian national teams. However, there are quite famous figures playing in the Slovak national team. For example, Erik Jendrishek, who once played for the German club Schalke, and Juraj Kucka, one of the well-known football players of the Slovak national team, are in the team. The participation of such players both increases competition and creates additional motivation for our team. There are also high-level football players in the national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are players in this team who once played in Spain, at the La Liga level. It is always interesting to face such rivals. The participation of well-known football players in minifootball further increases the interest and level of competition of the tournament."
It should be noted that the European Minifootball Championship will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia, from May 27 to June 4. The Azerbaijani national team will compete with the French, Italian and Austrian national teams in Group F.
