A press conference with head coach of Azerbaijan national team, Fernando Santos was organized at AFFA Headquarters today.
The Portuguese specialist, who announced the squad for the matches against Iceland and Ukraine within the 2026 FIFA World Cup European qualifiers, answered questions from media.
He first congratulated FC Qarabag, which advanced to the League phase of the UEFA Champions League: “First of all, I congratulate FC Qarabag on qualifying for the League phase of the UEFA Champions League. This is a very important result, a great success for Azerbaijan. I congratulate all the players of Qarabag, especially Gurban Gurbanov. For a while in Europe, everyone will be talking about Azerbaijan and Qarabag. The team deserved to advance to the League phase. I am sure that they will do their best to represent Azerbaijan there in a worthy way”.
The head coach emphasized the importance of game practice for the players called up to the squad: “As head coach, I would like all the players to have game practice. We will try to prepare with the players called up to the squad and achieve successful results. We are watching the games and constantly analyzing the players' performance. Based on the recent friendly matches and the previous training sessions, I can say that my players are very willing, they are trying to achieve a good result. This gives me hope. I believe that they will continue with the same desire and at the same pace. Both I, players and the people of Azerbaijan wish us victories.”
Fernando Santos also expressed his views on the opponents the A-team will face in the first two rounds of the qualifying round: “We do not expect easy matches. The same players of Iceland have been playing together for a long time. Almost all the players in their squad play abroad. They have a very experienced and high-quality squad, they are a dynamic team. They are good at setting up attacks from the defense. When they are without the ball, they show aggression, trying to immediately take possession of the ball. My assistants and I have watched many of Iceland's games. We know what style of play they have, their strengths and weaknesses. We will prepare the team well for this match. It will be a very good game. We will have a long trip to Iceland, there is a four-hour time difference. We will go to Iceland a little earlier to better adapt.
Ukraine is also a very strong team. They play with an attacking lineup. Our job is to analyze both opponents well and convey their strengths and weaknesses to my players. We count on the support of our fans in the home match against Ukraine. Regardless of the strength of the opponents, we will go to every game only to win.”
Note that Azerbaijan will play against Iceland in Reykjavik on September 5, and Ukraine in Baku on September 9.
