“There is a shortage of players in the national team. Three rounds have been played in the championship, and teams have participated in European competitions. There are players in the squad who have played very little both in European competitions and in the championship. In the second half, the players lacked the strength.”
Idman.biz reports that these remarks were made by Agaselim Mirjavadov in an interview with Sport24.az.
The former head coach of the Azerbaijan national team spoke about the heavy defeat suffered by the team in their away match against Iceland in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers yesterday: “Why did this happen? First, the abolition of the foreign player limit, and second, the players’ lack of readiness. Once the attack ended, everyone was returning to the center, to the second zone. There’s a difference between being forced by the opponent and doing it ourselves. Iceland didn’t create many problems. They scored the first goal near the end of the first half. It was clear that the players lacked match experience, which would cause problems. A solution needs to be found. The limit has been removed. What should be done with local players? Fernando Santos has a contract until 2028. Since we are not involved internally, we don’t know if the management discussed the limit or not. There are many questions. Currently, the blame lies with the head coach and the players. When we counterattacked, the ball wasn’t in the middle at all. Possession was 71% against us, 29% for us… And that was just Iceland; Ukraine and France are next… Although there are many problems, there are solutions. We need to sit down and discuss it.”
The Iceland vs. Azerbaijan match ended with a 5:0 victory for the home team.
Idman.biz
