OMM Newsroom
Baku Football Federation President Tahir Suleymanov spoke about the potential of Azerbaijani footballers in an interview on the FIFA U-15 World Cup and festival. He described the tournament in Hovsan as a major football celebration and said representatives from nearly 200 countries took part.
Suleymanov said the national team has very good players, adding that results could have been better. He said this was the young players’ first test: they had both won and lost matches. The main task, he said, is to protect the players, develop their talent and help them reach a higher level.
Developing young footballers
The federation head stressed the importance of conducting reviews after the World Cup. He said it was necessary to bring change to children’s and youth football across the country, including in the regions, in all age groups. According to Suleymanov, the vast majority of children who played in the tournament were from clubs participating in the “Stars of Tomorrow” project.
He said 14 players took part in the tournament under its format requirements, but that there were 50 to 100 players in this and subsequent age groups with the potential to compete at world level. Speaking about James Eziashi, the U-14 League’s top scorer, Suleymanov said he was somewhat small for his age group, but was an Azerbaijani citizen and a promising player.
Suleymanov said the “Stars of Tomorrow” project would continue next year and was planned to be implemented at a higher level. He said a strategic decision was needed to extend the project across Azerbaijan and expressed confidence that steps would be taken in this direction in the near future.
