The press conference of the head coach of the Azerbaijan national team, Fernando Santos, was organized.
The Portuguese specialist announced the state of the national team before the match against Sweden in the League of Nations, Idman.biz reports.
- Most of the team consists of players who played in local championships. What was the reason why Mahir Emreli and Shahruddin Mammadaliyev were not called to the team?
- Mahir is injured. In general, there was a list of about 50 players. We chose between them. All of the players you mentioned are injured so they won't be playing.
- You have been away from Baku for a long time. You have watched our European Cup matches, you are already familiar with our sports complexes. Can we look to the future with hope?
- You need to come to terms with reality. We came here to build a team for the future. The players I have recruited now will work with me for the first time. We will only have one day of practice. There is no need to make any radical changes. They will know us and we will know them. It will be the way they have prepared in their teams. It is too early to talk about whether we will change anything in the future. We want to create a competitive team. You need to score as many goals as possible. We want to create a compact, willing, persistent, loyal team. Every player who will be called to the national team is important for us. None of them are stars for us.
- Those who lived a legionary life were in better shape in the last League of Nations. Now they were at a lower level. What do you think about it?
- The main thing is the team. Group games are important for us. For me, one player is not more important than another, everyone is equal in my eyes. The main goal of all of us here is to do good work for the sake of Azerbaijan, and I did not come to the national team just like that. The team also needs to create this determination.
- Such disclosure of the team is new for us. If someone is injured after the Premier League games, is there another player to replace him?
- Of course there are alternatives. I watched the European Cup games. There are players who play outside the country, and their arrivals and departures have also been taken into account. It is possible that if someone who plays abroad is injured, they will be replaced by those who play in more domestic championships.
- After 11 years, two players from Turan Tovuz were invited to the team. Is it because they are the leaders in the local championship?
- We watch almost all the games. It has nothing to do with being a leader. We invite whoever we think is worthy of this team. It is an ongoing process. One may come today and one may leave later. Now the players invited to the national team are from 4 Premier League clubs. No one can say that there will be no players from other clubs in future matches. We invited them to watch their performances in their clubs. I have great respect for all players. This shows once again that I will reveal the name of the footballer in front of you. Maybe you have a question.
- How important is the result in these games?
- There is no coach in the world who thinks about anything other than victory. First of all, we want to create such a team that players are confident and ambitious, tactically and technically good. We have analyzed our competitors well. We have information about all the players of the opposing team. In the current case, the main base is these players that I have.
- No local coach has been appointed to the national team after Arif Asadov. What is the reason for this?
- Of course, the national team will have a local coach. This is important for us. It is important to have a local coach in every national team. Maybe we will announce it before the next game.
- The stars are in the sky, you said. And was Cristiano Ronaldo in heaven at EURO-2016?
- In my opinion, not only he, but the whole team is considered a star because of this success.
Banuchichek Huseynli
Idman.biz
