OMM Newsroom
Zira captain Qismat Aliyev spoke to sportify.az after his team beat Sabail on penalties in the second qualifying round of the Azerbaijan Cup. The match ended 2-2 after regulation and extra time, with Zira winning the shootout 3-2.
Aliyev said Sabail had a strong squad and that Zira had expected a difficult match. The team had planned to settle the contest within 90 minutes, he said, but it went to penalties. The captain said they had decided in advance that he would take the fifth kick, and that his converted penalty helped secure the win.
Injuries and a crowded schedule
The captain said the team needed to work on mistakes that had led to goals conceded in defence. He said options for squad rotation were limited and that the return of injured players would help the team. He noted that David Volkov’s absence from the cup match, after he was injured in the October 18 game against Kapaz, affected the team’s attacking play.
Zira will play Araz-Nakhchivan in the Premier League in Shamakhi on October 31. Aliyev said the opponents were trying to play good football under their new head coach, Yuri Maksimov, and that Zira would take the field aiming to win.
Season target and national team
Aliyev said it was difficult to predict results at the start of the season, adding that the team would aim to compete for top places and medals. He said his not being called up to the national team was not due to any problem in his relationship with Ayhan Abbasov. He also denied reports that he had been unhappy about being substituted in a friendly against Malta.
