Interview with Elvin Badalov, defender of the Azerbaijan national team, given to Sportal.az.
After the match against Iceland, there seemed to be chaos in the national team. It was a heavy defeat, then Fernando Santos was dismissed. Within a day, a new head coach arrived. How did you get through this period?
It was really tough days. It was the first time I had been in such a situation. The boys were in the same state. We didn’t know what to do. But we were patient, endured, and left everything to time. Fortunately, everything settled quickly.
Aykhan Abbasov said that, in that one day, he worked with you more from a psychological perspective. Of course, there was little time. He also tried to explain his system. It seems the team quickly adapted both to the system and mentally, right?
Of course, it’s hard to do much in a single day. But credit to coach Aykhan, he showed his ability and pulled us out of that situation. He managed to unite the team.
Can the draw against Ukraine be considered a positive result in this period?
Gaining a point against a team like Ukraine is a result in itself. Just look at where their players compete. We fought for all 90 minutes. We stood by each other. And in the end, we earned a point.
It’s interesting, what prevented the team from showing such resilience until this game? Does it mean the previous coaches couldn’t fully prepare the team mentally and tactically?
I don’t want to put everything on the coach. We played poorly against Iceland. These things happen. Sometimes nothing works, morale is low. That day just wasn’t our day. The important thing was to quickly put that behind us and carry the positives into the Ukraine match. In the future, we must build on that.
This season, "Neftchi" has not won either. Can we say that, along with Emin, you’ll join the club camp more confidently after the Ukraine game?
I would really like us to finally win in the next round. It’s been three rounds where we’ve shown progress in our play, but just haven’t been able to win. I believe once we get that first victory, more will follow. We all believe this, there is no other way.
Up next is a tough-looking match against France. You probably saw Iceland’s performance against them. Even though they made it 2-2, the goal was later disallowed by VAR. Did this give you confidence that it’s possible to compete with France and avoid the heavy defeat many expect?
We will prepare. There is no other choice. We can play against any opponent. Of course, France is another level. I don’t even want to talk about that. It’s an away game. But we must give our best. After the Ukraine match, I’m sure the boys have more self-confidence.
Can we think that the Ukraine match won’t be the first and only point you collect in this group?
That’s what we all want. Hopefully, it will be so.
You wear the number 14 jersey in the national team. We know that for many years, Rashad Sadygov played with that number. Did you choose it for that reason?
Rashad Sadygov is a legend of our football. I certainly have great and endless respect for him. As a player, I always admired him. But the jersey number has nothing to do with him.
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