In Azerbaijani football, the number 14 has a mystical quality. Rashad Sadygov, who played the most games in the national team, wore the jersey number 14, and the player who scored the most goals, Gurban Gurbanov, stood out 14 times.
As per Idman.biz, Emin Mahmudov, who shared the name of the national team's scorer, joined the "14".
The Neftchi midfielder has the opportunity to leave this number behind. Emin needs a goal to leave "14" behind.
Azerbaijani football is waiting for a new record. Idman.biz reviews how Gurbanov and Mahmudov, who have scored 14 goals, are partners.
20 years and 5 days of inaccessibility
Gurbanov scored the 14th goal on June 6, 2004 in the match against Latvia in Riga. That record remained unreachable for 20 years. Only after 20 years and 5 days, Emin repeated that indicator. He disappointed the opponent in the match held in Hungary against Kazakhstan. Both friendly meetings were productive. If the score was 2:2 in Latvia, our team won in Sombathei - 3:2. Both of the bombers scored their 14th goal from the penalty kick.
"0.08" difference
Gurbanov played 68 games in the national team. His average productivity is equal to 0.21. Mahmudov is on the threshold of his jubilee in the team he played for 49 times. Its average productivity is 0.29. As FMu can see, only "0.08" difference separates our scorers.
Four-goal advantage
Ramil Sheydayev is 3rd among scorers. The striker of Kocaelispor is also continuing his career. He is 4 points behind the Qarabag head coach and the Neftchi captain. Sheydayev, who has 10 goals, is one of the three players whose number of balls scored in the history of the national team is expressed in two digits.
The secret of "32"
"32" is the number of the non-formidable Azerbaijani scorers. No matter how interesting it is, both Gurbanov and Mahmudov scored their 14th goal at the age of 32. In fact, there are many highlights here. They were both born in April and both turned 14 in June. All this happened 20 years and a few days apart. Gurbanov reached this record, 54 days after his 32nd birthday, and Mahmudov after 45 days. Emin achieved this only 9 days earlier than a veteran 20 years older than him.
Who reached "14" first?
Gurbanov scored his 14th goal 12 years after his debut in the national team. Mahmudov achieved this after 6 years. But let's take into account that more matches have been held in recent years. Gurbanov won this number in his 57th match and Mahmudov in his 49th match. The head coach of Qarabag scored a goal in 7 different years. This number is equal to 5 in the captain of Neftchi.
2 doubles each and 12-goal game
14-goal scorers have other highlights. Both Gurbanov and Mahmudov scored 2 doubles in the team. This means that both of them have scored in 12 different matches. They are the national record holders in the number of matches they have scored.
One at Neftchi and the other at 6 clubs
The captain scored all his national goals in Neftchi. Gurbanov, who spent the brightest period of his football career in the White-Blacks, distinguished himself as a member of 6 different clubs. Of course, he scored more - 4 goals as a member of Neftchi. He pleased his national fans 3 times when he played for Volgar, 2 times for Dashgin, Kur-Nur, Baltika, and 1 time for Stavropol Dynamo.
Qualifiers or friendlies
Gurbanov distinguished himself 5 times in qualifying stages. The former forward, who scored 9 goals in friendly matches and international tournaments, did not score in the qualifiers of the world championships.
Mahmudov scored half of the balls in the qualifying match and half in the friendly match. The midfielder, who scored 4 times on the way to the World Cup and 3 times in the continental qualifiers, did not find his way to the opponent's goal in the Nations League.
Captain "nine"
Scorers were also captains of the national team. Gurbanov scored 3 times in the matches he started with a bandage. Mahmudov was happy with 6 goals as a captain. Both players were also accurate from penalty kicks. He 2 times, the midfielder scored 4 times from the 11-meter spot. Our scorers almost always started in the matches where they scored goals. The only exception is the ball scored by Gurbanov on the trip to Belarus. In that meeting, the forward got a chance in the second half.
Gurban Gurbanov's goals in the national team
June 8, 1993. Tehran. IT. Azerbaijan - Kazakhstan (U-21) - 3:3 (2 goals)
February 27, 1996. Larnaca. FM. Azerbaijan - Faroe Islands - 3:0
May 27, 1996. Molodechno. FM. Belarus - Azerbaijan - 2:2
March 22, 1997. Baku. FM. Azerbaijan - Turkmenistan - 3:0
October 14, 1998. Vaduts. EC. Liechtenstein - Azerbaijan - 2:1
March 6, 1999. Larnaca. FM. Azerbaijan - Estonia - 2:2
June 5, 1999. Baku. EC. Azerbaijan - Liechtenstein - 4:0
February 12, 2003. Podgorica. EC. Serbia and Montenegro - Azerbaijan - 2:2 (2 goals)
June 11, 2003. Baku. EC. Azerbaijan - Serbia and Montenegro - 2:1
March 31, 2004. Chisinau. FM. Moldova - Azerbaijan - 2:1
May 28, 2004. Baku. FM. Azerbaijan - Uzbekistan - 3:1
June 6, 2004. Riga. FM. Latvia - Azerbaijan - 2:2
Emin Mahmudov's goals in the national team
June 9, 2018. Riga. FM. Latvia - Azerbaijan - 1:3
March 30, 2021. Baku. WC. Azerbaijan - Serbia - 1:2
May 27, 2021. Alania. FM. TurkIYE - Azerbaijan - 2:1
September 1, 2021. Luxembourg. WC. Luxembourg - Azerbaijan - 2:1
September 4, 2021. Dublin. WC. Ireland - Azerbaijan - 1:1
October 12, 2021. Belgrade. WC. Serbia - Azerbaijan - 3:1
November 14, 2021. Baku. FM. Azerbaijan - Qatar - 2:2 (2 goals)
November 16, 2022. Chisinau. FM. Moldova - Azerbaijan - 1:2
March 24, 2023. Lintz. EC. Austria - Azerbaijan - 4:1
September 12, 2023. Baku. FM. Azerbaijan - Jordan - 2:1
November 16, 2023. Baku. EC. Azerbaijan - Sweden - 3:0 (2 goals)
June 11, 2024. Szombathely. FM. Azerbaijan - Kazakhstan - 3:2
Vugar Kheyrullayev
Idman.biz
