Interview with Mahmud Sadygov, Vice-President of “Araz-Nakhchivan,” the reigning national champion representing Azerbaijan in the Futsal Champions League next season, for AZERTAC.
How are preparations for the new season going?
Since July 26, the team has started training, though not yet at full strength. We continue to prepare for the new season, and now the entire squad is together. The morale is very high. We played a friendly against “Neftchi” and will face them again today. We want to identify and work on any weaknesses in these preparatory matches. We aim to compete strongly in all tournaments, and the Federation is supporting the club to achieve success in European competitions.
“Araz-Nakhchivan” will play in the preliminary round of the Champions League on August 27 against Northern Ireland’s “Sparta Belfast,” on August 28 against Scotland’s “PYF Saltires,” and on August 30 against local Austrian team “Ljuti Krajisnici.” How do you assess your chances?
We are currently observing our opponents and preparing intensively for the Champions League. In recent years, we haven’t achieved the results we wanted in this tournament. We play well, but issues arise that lead to losses. The coaching staff reviews videos of past matches. Confidence in the team is high.
What kind of issues do you mean?
I think there were certain mistakes by the coaching staff in the past. We lagged behind opponents tactically and in player selection. For example, last season we were favorites against Sweden’s “Uddevalla,” but small mistakes caused us to lose. We have carefully analyzed where we went wrong and do not want to repeat the same mistakes this year. We fully support Head Coach Evgeniy Kuksevich to achieve success in the Champions League.
Are new transfers expected?
Our squad is currently complete. We can take 14 players to the Champions League: 8 local and 7 foreign players. A young goalkeeper from the U-19 team will remain in Baku as a backup. If we advance from the group stage to the playoffs, we may make one more transfer.
What are your goals in the Azerbaijan Futsal League?
We aim to become champions again and represent Azerbaijan successfully in Europe.
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