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Azerbaijan national football team
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The Azerbaijan national football team is the national football team of Azerbaijan and is controlled by Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan. It represents Azerbaijan in international football competitions.
The Azerbaijan national football team has attempted to qualify for each major tournament from Euro 96 onwards, but has never achieved to take part in finals tournament of the World Cup, or the European Championships.
Berti Vogts was appointed as a manager of Azerbaijan on a two-year contract on April 2008. He says his priority won't be World Cup qualification, but creating new structures and a real game. He will start everything from zero. "This is a real challenge for me."[1]
Early History
- Azerbaijani football was first mentioned in writings of a famous Azerbaijani poet and philosoph of XIIth century Nizami Gencevi, particularly in his famous collection of poems Khamse, including "Khusraw and Shirin" and Layli o Majnun "Layla and Majnun".
- First Azerbaijani football clubs started to function in 1905. Generally they represeneted main oil companies of Baku.
- First official championship was held in Baku in 1911 whose winner was The British Club, a team of the British Oil Company.
- The Azerbaijan national football team held her first friendly matches against Georgia in 1927 for the Trans-Caucasian Championship in Georgia [2].
- During the Soviet Era the team did not play any international matches
Modern History
After Azerbaijan gained it's independence in 1991, AFFA - Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan - was created. In 1992, renowned Azerbaijani footballer Alekper Mamedov became the first head coach of the Azeribaijani national football team, compiling a 3-1 record as coach that includes the first ever national team victory, over Georgia on May 25, 1993.[2][3] In 1994, the national team was accepted into FIFA and UEFA.
Because of security issues, the team played all of its home Euro 96 qualifers in Trabzon, Turkey.[4]
In February 2004, Carlos Alberto Torres, captain of the Brazil team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup was appointed its national coach. Despite a poor start, a 0-6 defeat to Israel on February 18, Azerbaijan won their first ever away match, 3-2 against Kazakhstan on April 28. In June 2005, following a 3-0 defeat by Poland, Torres stood down from the position, to be replaced by former Neftchi coach Vagif Sadykhov, his third spell as coach of Azerbaijan. Shakhin Diniyev took over as manager in November 2005. He resigned on 31 October 2007, and Gjoko Hadzievski was named as care-taking coach of Azerbaijan.[5]
In April 2008 famous German football player and coach Berti Vogts was appointed as a manager of Azerbaijan on a two-year contract.[6]
World Cup record
- 1930 to 1994 - Did not enter, was part of USSR
Azeribaijani national team's current kit
- 1998 to 2006 - Did not qualify
European Championship record
Euro 2008 Qualifications
Azerbaijan was competing in Group A in qualification for UEFA Euro 2008, together with Portugal, Poland, Serbia, Belgium, Armenia, Finland and Kazakhstan.
Standings:
- Teams highlighted in green qualified for the finals.
| Team |
Pts |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
GF |
GA |
GD |
 Poland |
28 |
14 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
24 |
12 |
+12 |
 Portugal |
27 |
14 |
7 |
6 |
1 |
24 |
10 |
+14 |
 Serbia |
24 |
14 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
22 |
11 |
+11 |
 Finland |
24 |
14 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
13 |
7 |
+6 |
 Belgium |
18 |
14 |
5 |
3 |
6 |
14 |
16 |
-2 |
 Kazakhstan |
10 |
14 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
11 |
21 |
-10 |
 Armenia |
9 |
12* |
2 |
3 |
7 |
4 |
13 |
-9 |
 Azerbaijan |
5 |
12* |
1 |
2 |
9 |
6 |
28 |
-22 |
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(*) Armenia and Azerbaijan played only 12 matches due to UEFA's decision to cancel the two fixtures between these countries, with no points awarded to both teams. [3]
Notes on the tie-breaking situation:
- Serbia and Finland are ranked by their head-to-head records:
- Serbia – 4 pts (0:0 H vs Finland, 2:0 A vs Finland)
- Finland – 1 pt (0:2 H vs Serbia, 0:0 A vs Serbia)
Game Results:
World Cup 2010
Azerbaijan have been drawn alongside Germany, Russia, Wales, Finland and Liechtenstein in Group 4 and kick off their qualifying campaign away to Wales on 6 September. Vogts replaces Gjoko Hadžievski who was dismissed after the Azeris failed to qualify for UEFA EURO 2008™.[6] Vogts has said that the qualifying group is difficult, stating that "We want to learn some things from Germany and try to upset Russia."[8]
Standings
Recent friendlies
22 August 2007
Azerbaijan 3 - 2 Tajikistan [9]
12 September 2007
Azerbaijan 1 - 1 Georgia [9]
3 February 2008
Azerbaijan 0 - 0 Kazakhstan [10]
26 March 2008
Azerbaijan 0 - 1 Lithuania [11]
1 June 2008
Azerbaijan 0 - 1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
4 June 2008
Azerbaijan 2 - 1 Andorra
20 August 2008
Azerbaijan 1 - 1 Iceland
Current squad
The following players named for friendly match against Lithuania on March 26, 2008.
| No. |
Pos. |
Player |
DoB (Age) |
Caps |
Goals |
Club |
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GK |
Farhad Veliyev |
November 1, 1980 |
21 |
0 |
FK Karabakh |
|
GK |
Rauf Mekhtiyev |
November 17, 1976 |
|
|
FK Olimpik Baku |
|
DF |
Sasha Yunisoglu |
December 18, 1985 |
5 |
0 |
Polonia Warsaw |
|
DF |
Elvin Aliyev |
August 21, 1984 |
|
|
FK Olimpik Baku |
|
DF |
Rashad Sadigov(captain) |
June 16, 1982 |
|
|
PFC Neftchi |
|
DF |
Rail Melikov |
December 18, 1985 |
|
|
PFC Neftchi |
|
DF |
Usim Nduka |
September 23, 1985 |
1 |
0 |
FK Olimpik Baku |
|
DF |
Elnur Allahverdiyev |
November 2, 1983 |
2 |
0 |
PFC Neftchi |
|
MF |
Elmar Bakhshiev |
August 3, 1980 |
20 |
0 |
FC Inter Baku |
|
MF |
Ilgar Gurbanov |
April 25, 1986 |
29 |
1 |
 Boluspor |
|
MF |
Jamshid Maharramov |
August 4, 1983 |
|
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FK Baku |
|
MF |
Zaur Tagizade |
February 21, 1979 |
|
|
PFC Neftchi |
|
MF |
Aleksandr Chertoganov |
February 8, 1980 |
18 |
0 |
PFC Neftchi |
|
MF |
Emin Imamaliev |
August 7, 1980 |
46 |
1 |
FC Inter Baku |
|
MF |
Mahmud Gurbanov |
May 10, 1973 |
|
|
FC Inter Baku |
|
MF |
Emin Guliyev |
April 12, 1977 |
|
|
FK Khazar Lenkoran |
|
MF |
Aslan Kerimov |
January 1, 1973 |
78 |
0 |
FK Karabakh |
|
FW |
Zaur Ramazanov |
July 27, 1976 |
53 |
5 |
FK Khazar Lenkoran |
|
FW |
Branimir Subašić |
July 4, 1982 |
15 |
4 |
Red Star Belgrade |
|
FW |
Khagani Mamedov |
September 29, 1976 |
18 |
1 |
FC Inter Baku |
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Recent call ups
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