“Haji Aliyev often confuses our own players when we’re on the same football team,” said Olympic and World Championship medalist Jabrayil Hasanov during an appearance on journalist Azer Ismayil’s YouTube channel.
The former national team captain shared that friendly football matches among wrestlers are always entertaining—and Haji Aliyev never misses a chance to stir things up, Idman.biz reports.
Hasan Aliyev, a coach for the Greco-Roman national team, echoed the sentiment, saying this kind of mischief comes from a true athlete’s nature:
“Every athlete has a bit of stubbornness in them. It’s often rooted in the refusal to accept defeat. A wrestler who easily makes peace with losing can never reach the top. You have to be persistent, give everything you’ve got—especially in wrestling.”
Recalling a past training camp shared with footballers, Hasan Aliyev added:
“I remember staying at the same facility with some famous football players. We had a discussion about which sport is tougher: wrestling or football. Just then, I saw a group of footballers heading out together. When I asked where they were going, one said, ‘We’re going for a walk.’ I thought to myself—there’s the difference. We wrestlers barely have the strength to go buy water after practice, while they go out walking.”
Jabrayil Hasanov also emphasized the physical and mental demands of wrestling:
“In wrestling, a single mistake can end your career. In team sports, a teammate can cover for your error. But in wrestling, you're on your own. You have to constantly improve yourself. I remember sharing a room with Toghrul Asgarov. After training, we were so tired we’d lie in bed for an hour. He’d say, ‘You go shower first, then we’ll go eat.’ I’d say, ‘No, you go.’ We were so exhausted we couldn’t even lift an arm to take a shower.”
Idman.biz
