Armenian Soccer

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenian Soccer

God knows when we will be in such a relatively easy group again....

Actually, we have improved so much, that now we say this was an easy group. Would we say something like this a few years ago, with Russia, Ireland, Slovakia (who beat Italy and performed very well the last couple of international tournaments)? We couldn't even pass the ball decently in the past, we now have a team who skipped years of evolution and performs amazingly well.

I say, let's even become better so that next time we'll say, what an easy group it was, we (currently ranked 44) beat the Czechs (40), we beat the Bulgarians (55), we beat the Maltese (154), we beat the Danish (17) and we only drew against Italy(6)!

[Mos]

Re: Armenian Soccer

God knows when we will be in such a relatively easy group again....

[Serjik]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Without our world class goalee, with only ten men, with screwed up referees, even with scoring a goal against ourselves, the final score 2-1 was not bad. Our boys outclassed the Irish. I think our boys played very very well.

[retro]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Tell Aleksanyan that the check is in the post!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp80Uk9t9o0

[retro]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Aleksanyan's Own Goal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJIaSBmlvGI

[Joseph]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Goalkeeper is definitely going to be a concern down the line. I believe Berezovsky will be in top form and available through the 2014 Qualifiers, but 2016 Euro will be somewhat unlikely. One note though, goalkeepers tend of very long careers careers, as the skills required for a goalkeeper do not deteriorate as quick as other positions. Edwin Van Der Sar, the former goalkeeper for Holland and Man U, was still in top form last year at the age of 40. Alex Ferguson pleaded with him to return for another year, but he chose not to.
I don't know if Petrosyan is the answer for us. Its not fair to judge him based on yesterday consider the stage, and the fact he did not expect to play. However, his size is a concern, at 5'11" he seems somewhat short to play goalkeeper.

Agree. In addition to a taller keeper (after Berezovsky), we need one or two taller fullbacks.

[Mher]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Goalkeeper is definitely going to be a concern down the line. I believe Berezovsky will be in top form and available through the 2014 Qualifiers, but 2016 Euro will be somewhat unlikely. One note though, goalkeepers tend of very long careers careers, as the skills required for a goalkeeper do not deteriorate as quick as other positions. Edwin Van Der Sar, the former goalkeeper for Holland and Man U, was still in top form last year at the age of 40. Alex Ferguson pleaded with him to return for another year, but he chose not to.
I don't know if Petrosyan is the answer for us. Its not fair to judge him based on yesterday consider the stage, and the fact he did not expect to play. However, his size is a concern, at 5'11" he seems somewhat short to play goalkeeper.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Lets stay on topic guys. There are other threads for this political talk. I am very much looking forward to our next qualifying campaign and i cant wait to see Ozbilliz and Movsissian playing togather up front with Heno, Marcos and Ghazaryan (he is talented but will most likely be moved to midfield) in the middle. Manucharian has been a disapointment who never lived up to the hype but he is a decent backup. Looking forward our weaknesses are Goaly with Berezovsky getting old we have no one anywhere near his caliber as replacement- the other weakness is dept on defence. While we have decent starters on defence one is the oldest guy on the team and we saw how much more trouble our defence had(scored on own goal) when we have one of our starters injured. This team scores a lot of points and doesnt concede too many which is a good combination.

[Mos]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Everybody is hurt of what the Bolsheviks did, Russians more so. Indeed, I agree with you that people have to understand that every country thinks of it's own interest, that's something most of the Armenians don't understand. And currently (and historically), Russia has major interests in Armenia as they have to keep Turkey, one of it's biggest rivals, at bay. And as Turkey is one of Europe's biggest (geopolitical) allies Europeans thus are anti-Armenian and have done Armenia much harm, even today. Armenians tend to forget that the West, yes the West, aids Turkey with billions of dollars of technology and weaponry. It is a fact, that the only reason Armenia exists today, is because of the Russian Federation.

We are lucky that Russian interests required support for our issues as well - just imagine what our fate would be if Russians were allied with the Turks. But in my view, those relations have evolved from being purely Realpolitik to actual trust. Polls in Armenia show that the number 1 power that is trusted is Russia, and for obvious historic reasons. The West has been more friendly towards Turkey, especially because of the Cold War. However, I wouldn't go as far to say that all Europeans are biggest enemy of Armenians or that all Europeans are pro-Turkish. Most Europeans could care less. Some Europeans who have interests such as Turkish military/NATO and Azeri gas/oil - thus will support them over us. Some will support Armenians based on large Armenian diaspora or maybe just cultural reasons. Our government nonetheless portrays a very friendly stance towards European political structures while being strategic allies of Russia, so we shouldn't forget this fact also.

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenian Soccer

Every group of people let it be Europeans or Asians have their flaws. I would even call group all the people of Europe under one label 'Europeans' inaccurate, as every ethnic group of Europe is different, has different traits, history, culture, and flaws. Sarkozy saying the statement about Armenian Genocide and seeing the Turkish reaction was sweet to see, but of course we shouldn't forget Sarkozy is running for re-election in a country with a large Armenian diaspora. We shouldn't go too far in praising him, but we can give some.

Russians have supported us during our hard times, and I appreciate it, though I still feel hurt from what the Bolsheviks did, because they harmed our interests. Though we were at time used as a pawn in the Turkish-Russian conflict also - would Russians have supported us if it wasn't in their interests? There were some European powers that at times helped us, at other times worked against our interests. I would say it was a mix, but in the end any country works for its interests and will use weaker countries as pawns in gaining a foothold strategically and pursuing national desires.

Everybody is hurt of what the Bolsheviks did, Russians more so. Indeed, I agree with you that people have to understand that every country thinks of it's own interest, that's something most of the Armenians don't understand. And currently (and historically), Russia has major interests in Armenia as they have to keep Turkey, one of it's biggest rivals, at bay. And as Turkey is one of Europe's biggest (geopolitical) allies Europeans thus are anti-Armenian and have done Armenia much harm, even today. Armenians tend to forget that the West, yes the West, aids Turkey with billions of dollars of technology and weaponry. It is a fact, that the only reason Armenia exists today, is because of the Russian Federation.