Azerbaijan

Nickname(s)	Odlar Yurdu (The Land of Fire)
Association	Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Berti Vogts
Asst coach	Bernhard Lippert
Captain	Rashad Sadygov
Most caps	Aslan Kerimov (75)
Top scorer	Gurban Gurbanov (12)
Home stadium	Tofik Bakhramov Stadium
FIFA code	AZE
FIFA ranking	116
Highest FIFA ranking	97 (June 1999)
Lowest FIFA ranking	170 (June 1994)
Elo ranking	122
Highest Elo ranking	100 (1993)
Lowest Elo ranking	151 (Feb 2001)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Georgia 1–1 Azerbaijan (Tbilisi, Georgia, 1927)[1]  Georgia 6–3 Azerbaijan  (Gurjaani, Georgia; September 17, 1992)[1][2]
Biggest win
Azerbaijan 4–0 Liechtenstein  (Baku, Azerbaijan ; 5 June 1999)
Biggest defeat
France 10 – 0 Azerbaijan  (Auxerre, France; September 6, 1995)[1]

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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years 1.2 '60s to '90s 1.3 1990s–present day 1.4 World Cup 2010 1.5 Euro 2012 2 Stadium 3 Record in major tournaments 3.1 World Cup 3.2 European Championship 3.3 World Cup 2010 3.3.1 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification 3.4 Euro 2008 qualifications 4 Current squad 4.1 Recent call-ups 5 Fixtures and results 5.1 Forthcoming fixtures 5.2 Recent results 6 Most appearances (caps) 7 Top 10 goalscorers 8 Past managers 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early years

• First Azerbaijani football clubs started to function in 1905. Generally they represented the main oil companies of Baku.
• The Azerbaijan national football team held her first friendly matches against Georgia and Armenia in 1927 for the Trans-Caucasian Championship in Georgia.^[1]
• During the Soviet Era the team did not play any international matches

[edit] '60s to '90s

1960s considered Golden Age for Azerbaijani football as it produced great players like Anatoliy Banishevskiy, Alakbar Mammadov and football referee Tofik Bakhramov, most famous for being a linesman who helped to award a goal for England in the 1966 World Cup Final between England and West Germany.

[edit] 1990s–present day

After Azerbaijan gained its 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.^[3][4] 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.^[5]

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 Sadygov, 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.^[6]

[edit] World Cup 2010

In April 2008 famous German football player and coach Berti Vogts was appointed as a manager of Azerbaijan on a two-year contract.^[7]

Azerbaijan had a mixed qualifying campaign, finishing with 5 points, just missing out on a last place to Liechtenstein with 2 points.

[edit] Euro 2012

In November 2009, AFFA extended Berti Vogts contract to further 2 years, which going to make Vogts as the first manager to manage Azerbaijani national team in two qualification cycles.^[8][9]

[edit] Stadium

Most of Azerbaijan's home matches are played at the Tofik Bakhramov Stadium in the capital Baku. It has been Azerbaijan's principal home stadium ever since country's independence from Soviet Union.

Today, some qualifying matches are hosted at the Lankaran City Stadium in Lankaran after it met UEFA stadium criteria.^[10]

[edit] Record in major tournaments

[edit] World Cup

• 1930 to 1994 — Did not enter, was part of the USSR

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1998	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2010	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	-		-	-	-	-	-	-

[edit] European Championship

• 1960 to 1992 — Did not enter, was part of the USSR

Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1996	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2012	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Notes ² Qualification not yet begun

[edit] World Cup 2010

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Team v • d • e Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Germany 10 8 2 0 26 5 +21 26  Russia 10 7 1 2 19 6 +13 22  Finland 10 5 3 2 14 14 0 18  Wales 10 4 0 6 9 12 −3 12  Azerbaijan 10 1 2 7 4 14 −10 5  Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 2 23 −21 2

Azerbaijan  – 1 – 2 0 – 2 0 – 0 1 – 1 0 – 1 Finland  1 – 0 – 3 – 3 2 – 1 0 – 3 2 – 1 Germany  4 – 0 1 – 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 1 1 – 0 Liechtenstein  0 – 2 1 – 1 0 – 6 – 0 – 1 0 – 2 Russia  2 – 0 3 – 0 0 – 1 3 – 0 – 2 – 1 Wales  1 – 0 0 – 2 0 – 2 2 – 0 1 – 3 –

Azerbaijan have been drawn alongside Germany, Russia, Wales, Finland and Liechtenstein in Group 4 and kicked off their qualifying campaign playing away to Wales on 6 September. Vogts replaces Gjoko Hadžievski who was dismissed after the Azeris failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2008.^[7] Vogts has said that the qualifying group is difficult, stating that "We want to learn some things from Germany and try to upset Russia."^[11]

[edit] 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.

[edit] Current squad

The following players have been called up for the friendly vs Czech, that took place on 18 November, 2009.

No. Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club 1 GK Farhad Veliyev November 1, 1980 (1980-11-01) (age 29) 30 0 FK Qarabağ 23 GK Kamran Agaev February 9, 1986 (1986-02-09) (age 23) 9 0 Khazar Lankaran GK Salakhat Agaev November 4, 1991 (1991-11-04) (age 18) 0 0 Inter Baku 14 DF Rashad Sadygov (Captain) June 16, 1982 (1982-06-16) (age 27) 56 3 FK Qarabağ 4 DF Mahir Shukurov December 12, 1982 (1982-12-12) (age 26) 38 0 Inter Baku 2 DF Rail Melikov December 18, 1985 (1985-12-18) (age 23) 26 0 Neftchi Baku 3 DF Saşa Yunisoğlu December 18, 1985 (1985-12-18) (age 23) 20 0 FK Baku 13 DF Ernani Pereira January 22, 1978 (1978-01-22) (age 31) 9 0 Karvan 5 DF Elnur Allahverdiyev November 2, 1983 (1983-11-02) (age 26) 5 0 FK Qarabağ 18 DF Maksim Medvedev September 29, 1989 (1989-09-29) (age 20) 5 0 FK Qarabağ 15 DF Ruslan Abushev October 10, 1987 (1987-10-10) (age 22) 4 1 PFC Neftchi Baku 9 DF Samir Abbasov February 1, 1978 (1978-02-01) (age 31) 32 0 Inter Baku MF Rashad Sadiqov October 8, 1983 (1983-10-08) (age 26) 8 0 FK Qarabağ 8 MF Aleksandr Chertoganov February 8, 1980 (1980-02-08) (age 29) 23 0 Inter Baku MF Tural Jalilov November 28, 1986 (1986-11-28) (age 22) 3 0 Simurq PFC 10 MF Elvin Mammadov July 18, 1988 (1988-07-18) (age 21) 13 3 FK Qarabağ 17 MF Fábio Ramim April 10, 1981 (1981-04-10) (age 28) 11 3 FK Baku MF Rahid Amirquliev September 1, 1989 (1989-09-01) (age 20) 3 0 Khazar Lankaran 6 MF Araz Abdullayev March 19, 1992 (1992-03-19) (age 17) 2 0 Neftchi Baku 16 MF Zeynal Zeynalov December 6, 1978 (1978-12-06) (age 30) 13 1 Standard Baku 7 FW Vagif Javadov May 25, 1989 (1989-05-25) (age 20) 25 5 FK Qarabağ 17 FW Vüqar Nadirov June 15, 1987 (1987-06-15) (age 22) 25 0 FK Qarabağ 11 FW Daniel Akhtyamov March 26, 1985 (1985-03-26) (age 24) 10 0 Simurg Zagatala

[edit] Recent call-ups

Pos. Player DoB (Age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up MF Afran Ismayilov 8 October 1988 (1988-10-08) (age 21) 0 0 FK Qarabağ 15 November 2009, v Iraq FW Bakhtiyar Soltanov 21 June 1989 (1989-06-21) (age 20) 2 0 FK Baku 15 November 2009, v Iraq

[edit] Fixtures and results

[edit] Forthcoming fixtures

Date	Tournament	Location	Opponent
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

[edit] Recent results

Date	Tournament	Location	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Azerbaijan Scorers
February 1, 2009	Friendly	Dubai	Uzbekistan	1:1	Azerbaijan	Fabio Luis Ramim  63'
February 11, 2009	Friendly	Kuwait City	Kuwait	1:1	Azerbaijan	Vagif Javadov  1'
March 28, 2009	WCQ 2010	Moscow	Russia	2:0	Azerbaijan
June 2, 2009	Friendly	Kayseri	Turkey	2:0	Azerbaijan
June 6, 2009	WCQ 2010	Baku	Azerbaijan	0:1	Wales
June 9, 2009	Friendly	Baku	Azerbaijan	0:6	Spain
August 12, 2009	WCQ 2010	Baku	Azerbaijan	0:2	Germany
September 5, 2009	WCQ 2010	Lankaran	Azerbaijan	1:2	Finland	Elvin Mammadov  49'
September 9, 2009	WCQ 2010	Hannover	Germany	4:0	Azerbaijan
October 10, 2009	WCQ 2010	Vaduz	Liechtenstein	0:2	Azerbaijan	Vagif Javadov  56' Elvin Mammadov  82'
October 10, 2009	WCQ 2010	Baku	Azerbaijan	1:1	Russia	Vagif Javadov  54'
November 15, 2009	Friendly	Al Ain	Azerbaijan	0:1	Iraq
November 18, 2009	Friendly	Al Ain	Czech Republic	0:2	Azerbaijan	Vagif Javadov  25' Ruslan Abushev  88'

[edit] Most appearances (caps)

#	Player	Career period	Caps	Goals
1	Aslan Kerimov	1994–Present	76	0
2	Tarlan Akhmedov	1992–2005	73	0
3	Makhmud Gurbanov	1994–Present	69	1
4	Emin Agaev	1994–2005	65	1
5	Gurban Gurbanov	1992–2006	65	12
6	Rashad Sadygov	2001–Present	56	3
7	Emin Guliyev	2000–Present	49	3
8	Emin Imamaliev	2000–Present	46	1
9	Kamal Guliyev	1999-2005	46	0
10	Vyacheslav Lichkin	1995–2001	45	4

[edit] Top 10 goalscorers

#	Player	Career period	Goals	Caps
1	Gurban Gurbanov	1992–2006	12	65
2	Zaur Tagizade	1997–Present	6	40
3	Branimir Subašić	2004-2008	6	26
4	Vidadi Rzayev	1992–2001	5	35
5	Farrukh Ismailov	1998–2006	5	32
6	Nazim Suleymanov	1992–1999	5	24
7	Vagif Javadov	2006–Present	5	25
8	Samir Aliyev	1997–2007	4	33
9	Vyacheslav Lichkin	1995–2001	4	45

[edit] Past managers

Manager	Azerbaijan career	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
Mammadov, AlakbarAlakbar Mammadov	1992-1993
Tuayev, KazbekKazbek Tuayev	1993-1994
Mirjavadov, AgaselimAgaselim Mirjavadov	1994-1995
Tuayev, KazbekKazbek Tuayev	1995-1997
Sadygov, VagifVagif Sadygov	1997-1998
Alaskarov, AhmadAhmad Alaskarov	1998-2000
Ponomaryov, IgorIgor Ponomaryov	2000-2001
Sadygov, VagifVagif Sadygov	2002
Abdullayev, AskarAskar Abdullayev	2003-2004	2	1	1
Torres, Carlos AlbertoCarlos Alberto Torres	2004-2005	18	2	6	10	11.11
Sadygov, VagifVagif Sadygov	2005	5	0	1	4	0.00
Diniyev, ShakhinShakhin Diniyev	2005-2007	20	4	7	9	20
Hadžievski, GjokoGjoko Hadžievski	2007-2008	3	0	1	2	0.00
Vogts, BertiBerti Vogts	2008–present	22	4	6	12	18.18

Last updated November 18, 2009

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Azerbaycan Futbol Federasiyaları Assosiasiyası
• azerifootball.com (Russian)
• Archive of international results 1979–2004 from Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
• UEFA match report on the first away win
• Azerisport
• Day.az

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