The European path of Azerbaijan's women volleyball players
The matches played the other day by Azerbaijan's women's national volleyball team as part of the European Championship became more than just a tournament.
It was a long-awaited opportunity to play in front of their own fans, to feel the special energy of packed stands and to show all of Europe what the national team is capable of. And the country's national team took advantage of that opportunity.
Despite the loss to the Turkish team, Faig Garayev's charges showed that they have a core, so, on the whole, this EURO can be counted as a plus for the national team. Azerbaijan confidently got through the group stage, achieved three wins in five matches and advanced to the playoffs, but in the round of 16 it faced the reigning European champion and world runner-up — the Turkish national team.
The team played the group stage at home at the National Gymnastics Arena, which was at the same time both a great advantage and a serious test. On the one hand, the support of the stands added extra emotion and energy, since the fans created an atmosphere that helped the players in difficult episodes, which was especially felt in the winning matches. However, the home court had a flip side as well. Along with the support, additional responsibility fell on the team — because from then on the expectations were especially high. Every unsuccessful episode was perceived more painfully, and the need to deliver results in front of their own stands could become additional psychological pressure. This was especially evident in matches against stronger opponents, when the national team needed to maintain concentration and composure throughout the entire encounter. The confident start included three victories in a row. Azerbaijan began the tournament with a 3:1 win over Portugal, after which Spain was confidently beaten in three sets. The first difficult test was the meeting with Romania, where everything was decided in a tie-break. The victory in the fifth set with a score of 15:8 allowed the hosts to be the first in the group to guarantee themselves a place in the round of 16. Next came the games against the teams of Belgium and the Netherlands. The Belgians turned out to be stronger, winning in three sets 25:19, 25:22, 25:23. Despite the defeat, the Azerbaijani volleyball players' game proved to be quite competitive. Competitiveness was also shown in the fifth-round match against the Netherlands, where the Azerbaijani team was leading in the score but lost 1:3.
FAIK GARAYEV
HEAD COACH OF THE AZERBAIJAN NATIONAL VOLLEYBALL TEAM
I am grateful to the girls, they gave their all, they played well. You yourselves know that our goal was to get out of the group, and we achieved that. But I myself am a maximalist, I wanted us to win more matches. However, experience played its role — many of the girls do not have enough of it. The Netherlands national team is a very experienced team. Despite that, we managed to play well.
Third place in the group with eight points took the volleyball players into the round of 16, where they came up against perhaps the most difficult possible opponent. The Turkish national team confirmed its status as the favorite.
The meeting in Istanbul ended with a score of 3:0 (25:14, 25:16, 25:22). The first two sets went under the clear control of the Turkish team, but in the third set our volleyball players were able to put up considerably more serious resistance, at times moving ahead in the score. At the end, the score was level at 21:21, but Turkey played the decisive rallies better, which resulted in the final victory.
This tournament showed the current capabilities of our team, while also demonstrating the gap between the team and the European elite. In matches against stronger opponents, the team was unable to consistently sustain a high tempo throughout the entire encounter. This factor is worth working on. Faik Garayev is an experienced, high-class specialist who knows how to work with a team, which demonstrated character, good organization of play and the ability to fight in tense matches. One of the examples of this character was the victory over Romania. Faik Garayev's authority was also noted by the leadership of the Turkish Volleyball Federation, which presented him with a gift for his services to Turkish volleyball.
If we talk about the roster, the team has formed a certain core, though we did not manage to see some of our volleyball players in action (for example, Raziya Aliyeva, Narmin Musayeva and others), but they also have potential and they will develop. Alas, the match against Turkey was the last one on the national team for Polina Rahimova. The European Championship has ended, but for the Azerbaijan national team this should not be the final point. Rather, it is another step on the path toward a team that will be able not only to delight its fans with individual victories, but also to consistently compete with the strongest national teams of the continent.
EMIN AHMADOV
