How many more children will you cause to cry? - The national football team of the brotherly country

What is the way out for Azerbaijani football? How can we ensure that our national team and footballers represent the country in European arenas, and we can watch and be proud? Of course, these are rhetorical questions. We all know where to start. To develop all sports, we need to focus on children and academies. The same applies to football. We need to dedicate resources to children's football and switch to a serious work regime in academies. As we focus our attention on the Premier League and the main national team, we lose 90 percent of the talents in the lower age groups. "Wonderkids" who are neglected in the academy are first sent to the reserve team of that club. Then they are sent to representatives of the I and II Leagues. Murad Mammadov, Edgar Adilkhanov, and Rufat Abbasov are young talents who have emerged from Azerbaijani football in recent years. Do you think only these three players have come out of such big academies? I have seen many talents with my own eyes. It's just that most of the specialists working with them at that age do not show the necessary attention and care. The transition period from lower age groups to the main national team is our most vulnerable point. Many of our talented footballers disappear during that period. The job of the U-17, U-18, U-19 national teams is to provide the U-21 and main national team with footballers. In this sense, the responsibility of the specialists working in these age groups is greater. They should constantly watch games, go to training sessions, and work seriously with young people who are reaching the end of their teenage years. We are in constant contact with the academies of all the clubs competing in the Premier League and keep an eye on each of them. We have written dozens of articles and talked about this topic many times. The clubs' thinking is the same as ours. They also know that everything starts from the academy. In our latest conversation with those responsible from the academies, we heard one name the most and were not surprised - Agil Nabiyev. Everyone says that he approaches his work responsibly, personally decides on the selection of players for the national team under 17 years old, and constantly travels to the regions to watch training sessions. The specialist has turned the Tovuz-Gabala road into the Baku-Sumgayit road. Unlike his colleagues, he does not just walk around with coffee in international tournaments, but is constantly on the move, searching. He watches games, looks for new names. These are not my words, but the words of the officials of the academies in their official and unofficial conversations with us. For example, the other day, our U-17 team, coached by him, defeated their peers from Georgia - 1:0. Nabiyev's team once again showed that the idea that "there is no football in Azerbaijan" is just a myth. There are talented children in the country, they need to be found, developed, and protected. We find them, but we can't protect them. As a result, the voices of the Georgians who lost to our teenagers will be heard tomorrow from all over Europe, each playing in a club. Speaking of finding, footballers like Murad Mammadov, Edgar Adilkhanov, and Khayal Farzullayev were raised, given a chance, and developed by Nabiyev at the national level. Well, what are our other teachers doing? Ilham Yadullayevs and Elkhan Abdullayevs not only do not raise anyone and bring them to Azerbaijani football, but they do not even give a decent chance to the players who come into their hands. The rumors we hear are that these people choose players for the national team through acquaintances and friendships. Isn't it a shame? They choose players for the national team because of eating and drinking, parties, and the principle of "maybe I will need this someday"?! So-and-so is a nephew, so-and-so is a friend's son... How many more children's sighs, parents' curses will you take? How many more years will we sit in the World Cups, watch the Georgian and Uzbek national teams, and sigh? In short, there is a certain personnel problem in our football, yes. But there are also many talented people. Let's hope that, as we are used to, the good ones will not become bad under the influence of the bad ones, the bad ones will look at the good ones, be ashamed, and feel remorse. Either they will take their jacket and leave, or they will do their job with conscience...