Azerbaijan’s Zira aims for the final in Minifootball Champions League.
Idman.biz reports that the team’s head coach, Elshad Guliyev, shared details with Report news agency.
Guliyev spoke about the preparation process: “I don’t think it will be easy, as strong teams are participating. Almost all players in each squad are national team members. We will try to advance from the group stage with good results. Our main goal is to progress through the group stage without losses and reach the Champions League final. Regarding preparations, we have been training for one and a half months and have completed physical conditioning. This weekend, we plan to play friendly matches against ‘Birbasha Baki’ and ‘Aznur.’ Starting next week, we intend to increase the number of such matches and complete the squad. If the Azerbaijan championship had started earlier, it would have been relatively easier for us. I hope the Minifootball Federation will consider this in the future. Playing a few games before leaving for the tournament helps the team be in better form.”
The coach expressed concern about the tight match schedule: “Matches will be played in a compressed schedule, meaning in a short period. I think this will create challenges, and the same applies to other clubs. It’s not an ideal format, and we plan to raise this issue with the organizers. If we advance from the group, we will have to play two games per day, putting a heavy load on our field players. We are preparing well and have all the necessary facilities. We have included young players in the squad and renewed almost 50% of the team. We aim to form a faster team and provide young players for the national team in the future. Our team is new, but despite the difficulties, our goal is to play in the final, and we are capable of overcoming these challenges.”
He also assessed the group opponents: “The Slovakian team in our group is strong, and we know their players. Most of their squad consists of national team members. We have faced the Slovak national-level team in several tough matches. The Israeli club is also good, but we do not know the Hungarian representative and have no information about their squad. Overall, I wouldn’t say the opponents are stronger than us.”
Guliyev noted that other Azerbaijani clubs, “Birbasha Baki” and “Aznur,” are also in tough groups: “Birbasha Baki ended up in the most difficult group among Azerbaijani teams. ‘Aznur’ also has strong opponents, including a club from Spain. Overall, all three groups are challenging.”
“Zira” will face “Red Meat Afula” (Israel), “MF 22 Jakmart Humenne” (Slovakia), and “Budapest” (Hungary) in Group C.
The Champions League will be held from September 17 to 21 at the Boyana Football Center in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Idman.biz
