"It was an exciting tournament for us, and our opponents were some of Europe's standout teams," said Adalat Alakbarov, a key player of Azerbaijan’s U19 futsal team, in an interview with azfutzal.az.
Idman.biz reports that the forward, who scored three of Azerbaijan’s five goals in the UEFA U19 Futsal Championship main qualifying round, reflected on the team’s performance:
"We approached the matches with full motivation and responsibility, but lack of experience played its role. We had a disastrous start in the first game, even though we didn’t deserve to lose by that scoreline to Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, we regrouped and performed much better against Croatia, the group favorites, the next day. The match ended in a draw, but we could have won. If we had fought as hard against Bosnia and Herzegovina, we might have earned a point there too. Unfortunately, early nerves and conceding an early goal widened the gap.
Our final match was against Turkiye, and it was a tough battle. Despite the loss, our opponents had to work hard for their three points. Turkey was the surprise team of the group. If I had capitalized on my missed chances in that game, we could have won."
Alakbarov emphasized the importance of the tournament for the team's development:
"This competition provided us with invaluable experience. We proved that we can compete with any opponent and achieve good results. Looking at our overall campaign, we started from the preliminary round in San Marino, where Kosovo was considered the favorite. But we defeated them, taking a major step toward qualification. However, that win made us a bit complacent ahead of our match against San Marino.
Despite the setbacks, we made history by advancing to the main round for the first time and securing our first-ever point at this stage. We could have left a stronger impression, but nerves and a lack of focus in the first game held us back. These lessons will help us grow. Now, we must focus on improving and aim for a spot in the senior national team in the future."
Azerbaijan's U19 team finished last in the four-team group with one point from three matches.
Idman.biz
