Azerbaijan national team player Toral Bayramov answered journalists’ questions after yesterday’s 2026 World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.
The national team earned its first point in the qualifiers. How would you comment on the 1:1 draw with Ukraine?
Everyone knows the situation we were in. We had lost badly away. But we didn’t lose spirit. There was also a coaching change. Everything happened in the last 3–4 days that could have disrupted our football. With coach Aykhan’s support, we stepped onto the field. No one thought about the score. Our goal was to fight for our flag and our people. I think against Ukraine we did not just what we could, but even what seemed impossible. This is who we are. We can improve and achieve even better results.
So the problem was the coach?
I can’t say that. Every coach has his own system. Personally, I saw fighting spirit in the boys today. We motivated each other. That’s what we need.
What did Aykhan Abbasov bring to the team?
He restored our confidence. By fighting, we got a good result. Now we will focus on the next matches.
What can be expected against France?
By then, a head coach must be appointed. You know Aykhan was only interim. Whatever the new coach’s demands are, we’ll do our best to meet them.
When the team won a penalty, did you want to take the shot yourself instead of Emin Mahmudov?
Honestly, I wanted to. But Emin also wanted to, because with one goal he would make history. There was a similar situation once before. But we are Azerbaijanis, the main thing is to avoid problems and achieve good results.
Emin Mahmudov scored his 15th goal and surpassed Gurban Gurbanov…
This is football, this is the national team. Emin has scored 15 goals, but that’s not too many. My goal is to surpass everyone in scoring (laughs).
Idman.biz
