Azerbaijan’s Qarabag Football Team Creates History

Azerbaijan’s Qarabag football (soccer) team made history on Wednesday as the first team from the Caspian country to qualify for the Union of European Football Associations Champions League group stage.

“After this victory, the Azerbaijani people loved football more than ever than before. We play for our fans,” Qarabag’s head coach Gurban Gurbanov told reporters and fans at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, after the team’s triumphal return home from Denmark.

In 2008, former Azerbaijani football star Gurban Gurbanov who was appointed as Qarabağ FC head coach, brought with him a tiki-taka style of play, characterised by short passes, long periods of build-up and players interchanging positions. / Qarabagh.com

In the second leg match of the UEFA Champions League playoff round, played in Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium on Wednesday, Qarabag beat Denmark’s København 2-1. Forwards Federico Santander and Andrija Pavlovic had scored for København, while a goal kicked by South African international footballer Dino Ndlovu secured Qarabag’s win.

The moment when Karabakh’s Dino Ndlovu shot into the bottom right corner, and scored the goal securing Qarabag’s spot in the group stages. / Sportbox.az

Wednesday’s match was Qarabag’s second against København in eight days. The Azerbaijani team outpaced København 1-0 in the first leg match of the playoff round in Baku on August 15.

The Qarabag team represents Aghdam, a city located near Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh region that was decimated by the Armenian military during a war fought between February 1988 and May 1994. Aghdam had been captured by Armenian forces in July 1993, when over 40,000 people fled from the district due to shelling. Qarabag relocated to Baku after its home stadium, Imarat, was destroyed by Armenia and plays its home games at Tofig Bahramov Stadium.

With the impending collapse of the Soviet Union recognized by the late 80’s, Armenia set its eyes on Nagorno Karabakh due to its heavy ethnic Armenian population, which it sought to incorporate. The region came under Armenian control along with seven surrounding districts as a result of the war, which left more than a million Azerbaijanis displaced from their homes.

Despite a ceasefire agreement signed in 1994 and four UN Security Council Resolutions calling for Armenia to unconditionally withdraw all of its forces from Nagorno Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, Armenia has occupied the areas ever since.

Wednesday’s victory was a cause for celebration throughout the country, and the capital city Baku was no exception. Fans celebrated the win by “the horsemen,” Qarabag’s nickname, by marching along Baku’s streets, chanting slogans in support of the team and the tenacity of its players. Amidst the shouts and hollers, the sound of cars honking signaled not traffic, but victory and a sense of national pride.

The victory prompted Qarabag FC fans to victory marches along Baku streets. / Report.Az

Qarabag now advances to the UEFA Champions League group stage draw, which consists of 32 teams made up of 22 automatic qualifiers and 10 from the playoffs. The draw takes place today at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, where the 32 teams will be divided into eight groups.