“Since coming to Azerbaijan, I know the players better. There are potential footballers here, but I wouldn’t say they are at the European level.”
elchi reports that these words were said by Rui Jorge, the head coach of Azerbaijan’s U-20 national team, at a press conference held after the friendly match against Japan.
The Portuguese specialist shared his thoughts on the team’s current condition and the players’ performance.
“We are currently at the beginning of the road. It is normal that the players are not in full shape. Therefore, we made changes in the squad. They were not capable of fighting for 90 minutes. The intensity I demand from my players is high. It is normal for them to be like this at this stage of the journey.
During my time working here, what I see the most is that football is a collective team sport, but many players prefer individual play. I think first of all they should think about the collective, not the individual. I don’t like naming names. I am very satisfied with each of their work. I am satisfied with their behavior, both in training and at the hotel, and with everything in general. That’s why I don’t want to name names.
Both not scoring goals and not conceding goals made me happy today. I always tell my players that if our attacking game doesn’t work out, we need to keep our goal untouched. When going on the attack, you shouldn’t be afraid, you need to go bravely.
Some players play in the reserve teams of their clubs. They must prove that they deserve to play in the main squad. There are players who are ready to perform in the main team. Right now, they are performing in a way that shows they deserve to play in the main squad. If they show themselves well here, their head coaches will also give them a chance in the main squad.
Let me say one thing, we lag far behind the national teams that rightfully qualified for the World Cup. We must not forget this. We are participating in this tournament as the host country. But other countries qualified because they deserved it.
We must try to bridge this gap. For example, today we defeated Japan in a penalty shootout. But Japan qualified for this world cup through their own play. At the moment, it is more important for the players to show a good result and develop rather than the result itself.”