Armenia: the new hipster team of choice
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Armenia: the new hipster team of choice
Armenia: the new hipster team of choice
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Every World Cup throws up at least one surprisingly proficient team from a small nation. Armenia, currently doing well in the qualifiers, may just be that team in Rio, says Dylan Fahy.
There are several national teams in Europe on the verge of qualifying for Brazil 2014 and vying to seal the slot of potential World Cup dark horses. Belgium’s golden generation, a prolific Bosnia and Herzegovina and the traditionally sturdy Switzerland are all set to spring a surprise. However, there is a lesser-known nation that could prove the genuine unknown quantity at the competition next summer.
Group B remains the tightest remaining race to reach the finals. Of the six hopefuls only Malta can mathematically no longer qualify with seven matches played. Italy spearhead the table with a significant advantage over second place Bulgaria on ten points. After that the Czech Republic and Denmark both join Armenia on nine points and in with a serious chance of securing a play-off place.
Despite a slow start to proceedings in the group, Armenia have found their footing and defeated their immediate rivals for second place. The tiny country dismantled Denmark 4-0 in Copenhagen in June and have since followed their all-time record victory up with another 2-1 win away from home to the Czechs.
“It was the worst night of my footballing life,” Denmark coach Morten Olsen admitted after their remarkable loss to Armenia. The ‘Havak’akan’ (The Collective) have rose to prominence under their first native boss in over a decade in Vardan Minasyan with another impressive showing in finishing behind Russia and Ireland in narrowly missing out on on the 2012 European Championships.
Minasyan has built the nucleus of the team around goalscoring playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan – who Borussia Dortmund purchased from Shakhtar Donetsk last June for £20m – and reliable striker Yura Movsisyan from Spartak Moscow. The squad also includes several veterans such as captain and goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky and defender Robert Arzumanyan. Seventeen-year-old club FC Pyunik, the Armenian Premier League’s greatest ever side, produced the bulk of the team’s players.
Armenia, a country bordering Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran, have made their Republican Stadium in Yerevan a fortress. Denmark and Bulgaria both have to make the journey before the campaign concludes. They face Italy in their final match, and by then the Azzurri will have qualified for Brazil, but the intriguing fact will be whether they can seal second and a play-off place to potentially join them.
http://twentyfour7football.com/armenia- ... oice-15855
[/video]
Every World Cup throws up at least one surprisingly proficient team from a small nation. Armenia, currently doing well in the qualifiers, may just be that team in Rio, says Dylan Fahy.
There are several national teams in Europe on the verge of qualifying for Brazil 2014 and vying to seal the slot of potential World Cup dark horses. Belgium’s golden generation, a prolific Bosnia and Herzegovina and the traditionally sturdy Switzerland are all set to spring a surprise. However, there is a lesser-known nation that could prove the genuine unknown quantity at the competition next summer.
Group B remains the tightest remaining race to reach the finals. Of the six hopefuls only Malta can mathematically no longer qualify with seven matches played. Italy spearhead the table with a significant advantage over second place Bulgaria on ten points. After that the Czech Republic and Denmark both join Armenia on nine points and in with a serious chance of securing a play-off place.
Despite a slow start to proceedings in the group, Armenia have found their footing and defeated their immediate rivals for second place. The tiny country dismantled Denmark 4-0 in Copenhagen in June and have since followed their all-time record victory up with another 2-1 win away from home to the Czechs.
“It was the worst night of my footballing life,” Denmark coach Morten Olsen admitted after their remarkable loss to Armenia. The ‘Havak’akan’ (The Collective) have rose to prominence under their first native boss in over a decade in Vardan Minasyan with another impressive showing in finishing behind Russia and Ireland in narrowly missing out on on the 2012 European Championships.
Minasyan has built the nucleus of the team around goalscoring playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan – who Borussia Dortmund purchased from Shakhtar Donetsk last June for £20m – and reliable striker Yura Movsisyan from Spartak Moscow. The squad also includes several veterans such as captain and goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky and defender Robert Arzumanyan. Seventeen-year-old club FC Pyunik, the Armenian Premier League’s greatest ever side, produced the bulk of the team’s players.
Armenia, a country bordering Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran, have made their Republican Stadium in Yerevan a fortress. Denmark and Bulgaria both have to make the journey before the campaign concludes. They face Italy in their final match, and by then the Azzurri will have qualified for Brazil, but the intriguing fact will be whether they can seal second and a play-off place to potentially join them.
http://twentyfour7football.com/armenia- ... oice-15855