"They welcomed me very well. It was easier for me because Adrian Mutu was here."
Idman.biz reports that this was said by the football player of Neftchi Yuri Matias.
In his statement to the Romanian press, the Brazilian defender recalled the times when he came to Neftchi: "We could speak Romanian with him. But now everything is fine. I am happy here. Baku is very beautiful, but the weather is not. But we get used to it. The wind is very strong."
Matias also compared the football of Azerbaijan and Romania: "If we talk about Romania, more goals are scored here. Teams are not that interested in defending. I don't like to be complacent, I always like to be focused."
Yuri also touched on his productive playing: "I already have 4 goals in the current season and I am satisfied with that. Last season I scored 6 goals. Now everyone says that I should stand out at least 6 times again. But I know how difficult it is for a defender to score."
The Brazilian noted his high salary at Neftchi: "I can't say anything about my return to Romania. Everything is possible. I don't know if the Romanian clubs will be able to pay me the salary I received in Azerbaijan. Yes, it's hard to earn as much as I do here in Romania. This is the highest salary I have earned in my career."
Matias Mutu did not talk to her after leaving Baku: "No, we haven't. I wrote to him and wished him luck. I have spoken to several of my teammates in the CFR Cluj. Mutu is a direct man. When he doesn't like something, he says it immediately. I like both that and game ideas."
The South American also touched on the pressure at Neftchi: "It's the best to fight for titles. Neftchi is under pressure. This is the biggest team in the country. But for 10 years now, Qarabag has performed more successfully both in the domestic arena and in Europe. Now I hope that we will take at least 2nd place. It is very difficult to defeat Qarabag.
Yuri also touched on the attitude in Azerbaijan to Mutu: "I wouldn't say that they didn't like him. The team did not have summer training. A week after Mutu's arrival, he led the team to games. Since there are 10 clubs in the championship, we have to face each opponent 4 times. We play some matches well. But there is Qarabag and it is difficult to swallow them. This team has very good players. It is impossible for us to achieve more than that. It happens in any team that fans call for resignation as soon as they don't win 2-3 games."
It should be noted that Mutu was the head coach of Neftchi from the summer of 2023 to December.
Idman.biz
