Former Azerbaijan national team defender Sasha Yunisoglu’s interview with Futbolinfo.az.
– Were you surprised by the players included or called up for our team’s World Cup 2026 qualifying matches against Iceland and Ukraine?
– Regarding the squad, I think everything is as expected. Except for 2-3 players, the best were called up. Whether a player is active in their club or not is another matter. Honestly, Santos’ selection isn’t very broad, he’s called almost all the prominent players.
– Our national team will play its first qualifying match on September 5 away against Iceland. How likely is it that we’ll return from Reykjavik with a good result?
– Our team played a friendly against Iceland in Reykjavik a few years ago, and it was an interesting match. It ended 1-1. True, a lot of time has passed, and the teams are completely different now. But Iceland is not one of Europe’s top national teams. I think it’s possible to take not just 1, but even 3 points in the away match. Of course, we are not Brazil. But considering our group, we can be hopeful about the games against Iceland.
– On September 9, we will host Ukraine in Baku. What are your expectations for this match?
– Ukraine is a very strong and well-known team in Europe. Most of their players play for European clubs. This game will be tough for our team, and I accept that. But I believe Ukraine hasn’t been showing its maximum performance lately, which is understandable due to certain circumstances. In this sense, our team has a good opportunity to take points from Ukraine in Baku.
– Out of the 24 players called by Fernando Santos, only 5 play abroad…
– In general, the issue of players abroad and limits has been discussed a lot. Yes, there are few Azerbaijani footballers playing abroad. Our football isn’t highly valued in Europe. That’s why Azerbaijani players rarely move to top leagues, they usually go to Albania or other Balkan countries. Mahir Emreli is the only exception, which happens maybe once in 20 years. From this season, the Premier League’s foreign player limit has been removed. Everyone expects that now more local players will go abroad, because if locals want to play, they must work twice as hard and improve to make the squad. No one guarantees them a spot in the starting eleven. Some prove themselves and work hard, others go to the First League instead of going abroad. So it’s not just about “Europe doesn’t want us,” but also that our players are afraid to go abroad. They would need to work five times harder there, and many are not ready for that.
– Overall, how many points do you predict our team will collect in the World Cup 2026 qualifying stage?
– I don’t like to make predictions. I wish our team success. I believe our team can earn more points than expected. Honestly, our recent games show our potential is quite low. Of course, I’d like the team to score the maximum points in the qualifiers. But we must be realistic. Realistically, if our team earns 3-4 points, it’s a great result.
Idman.biz
