Azerbaijan’s Qarabag football (soccer) team racked up its first point in the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) Champions League, after playing against the Spain’s Atletico Madrid in a game that ended in a 0-0 draw in Baku’s Olympic Stadium, on October 18.
“It was a very important point for my team,” Gurban Gurbanov, Qarabag’s head coach, said in a post-match press conference, according to reports by SportsBox.com. "I want to congratulate all of my players. This result will allow us to once again feel the strength and level of the Champions League.”
Qarabag’s 10-man team fell short of its striker Dino Ndlovu in the 75th minute of the game, after the forward received his second yellow card and was sent off the field. For its part, Atletico Madrid failed to score in the game, thanks to Qarabag’s well-played defense. Qarabag had a good chance to score a goal by Tarik Elyounoussi in the 90th minute of the match, but the striker’s shot went wide.
“We expected such a game from Qarabag,” said Atletico Madrid’s head coach Diego Simeone. “The opponent very well and quickly went out of defense [mode] and into the attack,” he said.
After playing three games in the UEFA Champions League, Qarabag ranks fourth place in Group C. Atletico Madrid comes in at number three, with two points. The group leader is England’s Chelsea, with seven points, while Italy’s Roma occupies the number two spot with five points.
On August 23, Qarabag became the first team from the Caspian country to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage, after beating Denmark’s Copenhagen in play-off round.
Qarabag is more than a sports team for Azerbaijanis; it is a source of national pride and considered an example of resistance to foreign aggression. Hailing from Aghdam, a city located near Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh region, which has been occupied by Armenia since the early 1990s, the team has overcome being kicked out of the city after it was decimated during a war fought from 1988 and 1994. Qarabag relocated to Baku after its home stadium, Imarat, was destroyed. It now plays its home games at both Tofig Bahramov and Olympic Stadiums in Baku.
Despite the hardships, individual and collective trauma, the team has dominated football in Azerbaijan. It is a regular fixture in the UEFA Europa League, having qualified four times in a row since 2014.
The number of evacuees from flooded areas in Kazakhstan has reached 97,852 people, including about 32,856 children since March 27.
The Islamic holy month of fasting, Ramadan comes to an end this week with the celebration of a joyous festival called Eid (meaning “festival” in Ar...
Iran's senior military leaders described the drone and missile attack on Israel on April 14 night as “successful".
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned Israel that it would face a "real and extensive" response if it makes any "mistake" following Tehran’s missi...
