Interview of Gjoko Hadzievski, former head coach of the Azerbaijan national team and "Baku" club, to Idman.biz website.
- You have been working in Saudi Arabia for a long time. Do you still watch Azerbaijani football?
- I will never forget my wonderful days in Azerbaijan, because we won the championship, which is no longer active. I coached the Azerbaijan national team in the matches between Finland and Belgium in the qualifying round of EURO-2008 and Kazakhstan in the test match. We were able to show ourselves in these matches and they probably remember that. I coached well-known football players such as Rashad Sadyqov, Mahmud Gurbanov, Zaur Ramazanov, and Zaur Taghizade in the Azerbaijan national team.
- Who are you currently in contact with from our country?
- I am talking to my best friends Nazim Suleymanov and Yashar Seyidov in Baku. Faig Azizov worked with us in Saudi Arabia for several years, and I am in contact with him often. I have many friends in Azerbaijan. I believe that one day "Baku" will return to the national championship again.
- But you didn't say your opinion about the Premier League. What do you think needs to be done for further development?
- At the moment, your championship is interesting. With the participation of 10 teams, the intrigue has returned somewhat, but it is not enough. The struggle of 14-16 clubs will be better. Previously, there were teams like "Khazar Lankaran", "Karvan", "Simurg". For example, the representative of Lankaran was considered one of the best clubs in Azerbaijan. New and beautiful stadiums and training bases have been built in your country. AFFA works very well on projects to train more players. If they want to develop football in Azerbaijan, there are two ways. The first is to train strong players who can play abroad, and the second is to strengthen the championship. Otherwise, your national team will not be able to collect more than 5-7 points at the qualifying stage.
- Since the contract with Gianni de Biasi was not extended, the post of head coach in the Azerbaijan national team is vacant. Do you think this task should be entrusted to a local or international specialist?
- It doesn't matter whether the head coach is foreign or local. Different names are possible. So far, the foreigners who came to the national team have scored 5-7, maximum 10 points. But in the current situation, there is no need for a foreign coach in the national team, there are very good Azerbaijani coaches. Among them, the names of Gurban Gurbanov, Rashad Sadigov, Arif Asadov, Nazim Suleymanov and others can be mentioned.
Emin Aga
Idman.biz
