Yevgeni Kuksevich: The national team should consist of its own, locally trained personnel

The recent friendly matches of the Azerbaijan national futsal team with the Danish team raised many questions about the state of futsal in the country. Perhaps no one can answer these questions better than the head coach of the team - Russian specialist Yevgeni Kuksevich.

Idman.Biz presents to the attention of readers an interview with the head coach of the Araz-Nakhchivan club and the Azerbaijan national futsal team.

- How do you assess the results of the friendly matches with the Danish team? Why were the games so different, despite being held with only a two-day break?

- If we look at the score, I agree with you: 1:4 and 4:2 are completely different results. But considering that in the first game we had practically just come together and this was our first full four-day training camp during my time working with the national team, and we were also testing different game connections, then the result of the first game becomes clear. The only thing I didn't like was the failure to realize goal chances. If we waste episodes like this in official games, it won't lead to anything good.

In the second game, the guys had already rallied together, mutual understanding was formed. I would especially like to mention our captain Rovshan Huseynli. He both saved the team as a goalkeeper and led it forward as a captain, and showed true leadership qualities.

- You said that this was the first full training camp of the team you lead. Wasn't there a training camp before the Islamic Games?

- No, for some reason it didn't work out there - we were only together for three days before the tournament started. Perhaps that was the reason why we could not achieve the planned result.

- Maybe the problem is not in the training camps, but in the lack of qualified futsal players? After all, many go to mini-football, and we practically abandoned legionnaires who produce results.

- And we did very well! I believe that the national team should consist of its own, locally trained personnel. What kind of Azerbaijani team was it that almost only Brazilians played in the squad?! We must train our own personnel, we should not focus on instant success. Legionnaires are needed to strengthen the national team, not to completely replace local players.

- But local players run to mini-football to become champions there.

- Yes, I understand that. It so happened that now mini-football is our competitor. But AFFA should organize schools to train futsal players. People need to be explained that futsal is a separate sport and may very soon become an Olympic sport. Futsal is always played in the same format - five-on-five, while mini-football has a purely amateur status and there are very different formats. Schools need to be created, and the necessary funds need to be allocated to train a competitive generation of futsal players.

- When you received an invitation to work in Azerbaijan, did what you saw here meet your expectations?

- When I received an invitation to be appointed head coach of Araz-Nakhchivan, the name of this club was already quite well-known in the futsal world. I had heard a lot about the good organization of work in the club. When I arrived and started leading the team in January of last year, I saw that everything was really as they said and people were seriously focused on great success, on playing in the Champions League. The only thing is that in order to achieve the goals, it was necessary to attract new players to the team.

As for the work in the national team, the goal is also clear in the team I have been leading since July of last year - this time without legionnaires, to achieve new successes with our own strength. This goal suits me very well.

As for household issues, I am not very demanding and the conditions created for me completely satisfy me. Of course, the attitude of people also surprised me - it even exceeded my most optimistic expectations. Here, almost everyone tries to help in something when they know that you are not local. The level of hospitality is extremely high - such an attitude is rarely found in Russia or other countries. The taxi prices also surprised me - they are quite reasonable in your country.

- And you haven't been given a car?

- I have, of course. It's just that after seeing that the traffic rules in Baku are peculiar, "special", I don't risk driving it (laughs). I would never take such a risk.