Today, the Qarabag head coach Gurban Gurbanov celebrates his birthday.
Idman.biz reports that the football specialist, who was born on April 13, 1972 in the village of Ashaghi Tala of Zagatala district, is turning 52 years old.
The member of the Executive Committee of AFFA, he went down in the history of Azerbaijani football as both a football player and a coach. Gurbanov, who played as a striker during 1990-2005, played for Dashgin, Turan, Kur-Nur, Neftchi, Inter, Georgia's Alazani and Russia's Dynamo (Stavropol). He performed in Fakel, Baltika and Volgar clubs. The forward won the title of the national champion 4 times, the cup winner 1 time, the best scorer of the championship with 34 goals in the 1996/97 season.
Gurbanov, who scored 115 goals in the championships of Azerbaijan, is the 4th best scorer in the 32-year history of the competition. The attacker who scored 14 goals in 68 games in the national team is the most productive player of the team.
In 2005, the specialist who started working as a sports director at Inter was the head coach of Neftchi in 2006-07. Gurbanov's biggest historical successes are related to Qarabag, which he led since the summer of 2008. Under his leadership, the Aghdam club won the title of Azerbaijan champion 10 times and the national cup 5 times.
Gurbanov's team has reached the group stage of the European Cup 10 times in a row. In the 2017/2018 season, it was the first team to do so in the Champions League. Gurbanov's students advanced to the playoffs in the Conference League in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, and in the Europa League in the 2023/24 season, and advanced to the last-16 finals this year. He worked as the head coach of the Azerbaijan national team in 2017-18.
It should be noted that Gurbanov, who has been an Honored coach since 2011, was awarded the Order of Glory by President Ilham Aliyev in 2022 for his services to the development of Azerbaijani football.
Idman.biz
