Former Azerbaijani national team defender Sasha Yunisoglu spoke to Sportal.az about the team’s recent performances.
- The Azerbaijani national team lost friendly matches against Haiti and Belarus. Should these defeats be considered normal, or are they unacceptable results?
- This is football, and saying that defeat is unacceptable isn't exactly right. Of course, everyone wants our national team to win. But let's be honest—our national team has been in terrible shape for the last 2-3 years. At this point, no one even expects a victory from them. Haiti played better than us and is also ranked higher in the FIFA rankings. As for the match against Belarus, I thought maybe we could win this time since we had beaten them twice and drawn once in our last three encounters. However, we lost to Belarus as well. Honestly, I don’t even know which weak team is left in the world that we could invite just to secure a win.
- The Azerbaijani national team has lost matches in the past as well, but at least they managed to bounce back with a victory here and there. The current team, however, seems unable to recover from its setbacks. In your opinion, what is missing?
- I believe the problems with our national team are the same as those affecting Azerbaijani football in general. This generation of players has already exhausted its potential, and it's clear that no significant results can be achieved with them anymore. Not only do they lack the character to push through matches, but they no longer have the physical strength either. This isn’t Fernando Santos’ fault or problem. There are very few new players coming through, and they are not yet fully developed. They need time to adapt. However, what pleased me in the Belarus match was the impressive performances of young players like Khayal Aliyev, Shahin Shahniyarov, and Sabuhi Abdullazada. I believe it's time for a generational change in our national team. The "old guard" should bid farewell to the squad.
- There is a lot of discussion about the lack of a leader in the national team. Do you think having players with leadership qualities would improve the team’s performance?
- Yes, that's definitely one of the issues. There isn’t a player in the national team who can take responsibility, bring the team together when needed, shake things up, motivate them, and speak up when necessary. We don’t see that kind of character on the field. Even if our skill level is low, at the very least, strong character could help us win some matches. Unfortunately, we don’t even have that.
- In the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, our opponents are Ukraine, Iceland, and France. Does our team have any chance of earning points in this group?
- Look at how weak our team has become—we're not even asking whether we can advance from the group; instead, we're asking if we can at least earn a point. I think the question itself already contains the answer. France, Ukraine, and Iceland will give us a football lesson. That’s just a fact.
- When will the Azerbaijani national team improve?
- Unfortunately, we have to admit that we are weak. Whether we like it or not, our results over the past 2-3 years have turned us into Europe's underdogs. As a result, we’ve ended up in League D of the Nations League, which consists of the weakest teams. Despite this, I am confident that Azerbaijani football will rise again. These results will force us to start everything from scratch.
Idman.biz
