Head coaches of Azerbaijan national team: 21 changes in 28 years

After the independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1991, the football industry, as in other areas, entered a new historical stage. The Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) was established on April 3, 1992, and Fuad Musayev was elected its first president. According to the agreement reached between AFFA and Georgia, Azerbaijan will play its national debut match in Gurjaani. Although Nazim Suleymanov scored his first goal in the history of the national team in the 42nd minute, our team leaves the field with a 3-6 defeat.

5 foreigners in 28 years, 16 local specialists

The Azerbaijani national team has changed coaches 21 times at different times. The national team has been entrusted to five foreign and 16 local specialists for 28 years. The first head coach of the national team was Alakbar Mammadov, who once played for the honor of the USSR national team.

mili 1

* Kazbek Tuayev was temporarily at the helm of the national team in 1994, 1 in 2002, 3 in 2002, and Vagif Sadigov in 4 games in 2005.

Six temporary coaches - 0 wins

Six of the specialists who coached the Azerbaijani national team took the national team to the games as a temporary coach. Under the short-term leadership of Agasalim Mirjavadov, Kazbek Tuayev, Asgar Abdullayev, Vagif Sadigov, Gyoko Hajiyevski, Nazim Suleymanov and Mahmud Gurbanov, our team did not win in 17 games - four draws, 13 defeats ...

Asgar Abdullayev, Nazim Suleymanov and Mahmud Gurbanov, who took the team to temporary games, performed this mission as an assistant coach.

Mili 2

Two former forwards who are not "negative"

Only two head coaches in the national team - Alakbar Mammadov and Gurban Gurbanov - do not have a negative ball difference. Gurban Gurbanov is still the only specialist with a positive ball difference in the history of the national team. Both of them have a very successful football history. A.Mammadov played for the USSR and G.Gurbanov for the Azerbaijani national team.

mili 3

The most successful head coaches

According to the percentage of victories, the best result in the history of the national team belongs to Alakbar Mammadov. Although Gurban Gurbanov is ahead of his predecessor in the number of victories, he lags behind in terms of efficiency. Robert Prosinecki closes the first third. The Croatian specialist won six games during his three years in the national team.

The most unsuccessful head coach in the history of the national team is Agasalim Mirjavadov. Under the leadership of an experienced specialist, the team played nine games in 1994-95 and lost all of them. The national team scored 29 goals in 9 games and scored twice. The French-Azerbaijani match (10-0), which went down in history as the biggest defeat of the national team, also coincides with the period of A. Mirjavadov.

Although Kazbek Tuayev longed for the national victory (three games - three defeats) as a temporary coach, he experienced the joy of winning three times in 11 games as a head coach. The Azerbaijani national team won its first victory in international games under his leadership - Azerbaijan 1-0 Switzerland (31.08.1996).

mili 4

The most "long-lived" - Bertie Vogts

The head coach of the national team is Bert Vogts - 71 games. The German coach is also the longest-serving specialist in this position: 2008-2014. Robert Prosinecki (2014-2017) and Vagif Sadigov (1997-1999, 2002) are also in the top three.

Sadigov is the longest-serving national coach among local coaches. He worked for a total of two years and eight months during his three years in office. This figure is one year and seven months in Sh. Diniyev, one year and three months in I. Ponomaryov and A. Abdullayev.

Mili 5

Alakbar Mammadov (5), Agasalim Mirjavadov (9), Ahmad Alasgarov (9), Asgar Abdullayev (9), Nikola Yurchevich (10) are the specialists who played the least for the national team as a head coach.

Victims of the nation - "dwarf countries"

The biggest victories in the history of our national team were over Liechtenstein and San Marino. In the qualifying round of the 2000 European Championship, Ahmad Alasgarov's team defeated Liechtenstein with four unreplied goals. It is interesting that in the first match of the sides, which took place in Vaduz, the home team won over our national team with a score of 2: 1. This was Liechtenstein's first victory in qualifying history.

It took 18 years to see four or more goals of the Azerbaijani national team in the qualifying rounds. Our national team, which is preparing for the qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup under the leadership of Robert Prosinecki, this time scored 5 goals against San Marino in Baku. The goal scored by the guests in the 74th minute deprived R. Prosinecki of the status of the only coach who brought the biggest victory to our national team.

Mili 6

From the Auxerre tragedy to the destruction of Osijek

Undoubtedly, one of the strongest opponents in the history of the national team is France. It was known from the beginning that at a time when Azerbaijan was going through difficult times, our team could not resist the stars of developing French football. Agasalim Mirjavadov's team conceded 10 unanswered goals in September 1995 and set an absolute record.

The next big defeat is the passivity of Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Torres. In 2005, Poland sent our national team away with an 8-0 defeat.

Mili 7