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A win over Andorra kept Armenia off the bottom, but far from the top

But still according to specialists, just like Armenia’s clubs, the national team has failed the season overall.

Nevertheless, the victory on October 12 not only sweetened the typically disappointing season, but also earned Armenia a place in pot 6 in the draw for Euro 2008 due in Switzerland on January 27. (There are seven pots in the draw, with 50 nations classified according to their recent achievements.)

The Football Federation of Armenia and the national team’s head coach hope this victory will give a psychologically positive charge to the boys to perform successfully in the next season.

And although specialists also positively assess the football and result shown by Armenia in their last official match this season, many think that Andorra (this nation has a population of only 43,000, no professional football or great achievements) is not a side to test Armenia’s real strength.

“Football Plus” sports weekly chief editor Ashot Martirosyan calls Armenia’s latest qualifying campaign a big failure. The expert who has followed Armenian football for many years says Armenia have never played such a bad season since 1992 when they first appeared on the world stage as an independent nation. (Armenia played their first competitive match in Euro-96 qualifications in 1994).

“The team is facing a change of generations today. Those footballers who had played for the country for more than 10 years did not play in this cycle. Their absence did damage to the team, and the young footballers who came in their absence failed to prove an equal replacement for them,” Martirosyan says.

The specialist sees the main reasons for the youngsters’ failure in their lacking international experience and practice, as well as in the mistakes by the coaches, especially by French specialist Bernard Casoni, who was replaced by Dutchman Henk Wisman after failing the start of the season in spring.

Besides, Martirosyan thinks that apart from footballers playing in foreign clubs those footballers who are invited to the national team from the local clubs should not be from Pyunik alone, but the selection of the team players should be done objectively.

The thing is that Armenia’s head coach also heads Pyunik, Armenia’s best club in recent times who are heading for their fifth consecutive title this year. Almost all of the recent coaches of the national team also combined their duties with those in Pyunik.

In Martirosyan’s opinion, in all cases the coach is responsible for the team’s performance and result, but he also finds that a council of coaches should be functioning simultaneously.

Former footballer and one of Ararat-73’s coaches Hovhannes Abrahamyan shares this opinion.

“The Federation’s supervision over any coach is necessary. It was also due to this supervision that Yerevan’s Ararat achieved outstanding results in the 1970s first in the Soviet Union and later in the international arena as well,” he says.

And Martirosyan also attaches great importance to the national championship, which, according to him, “has been turned into Yerevan’s open championship.”

“As a matter of fact, all teams represent Yerevan, meanwhile it is impossible to imagine how to achieve progress in football without developing football in the regions,” he says. “Besides, many of our teams are in a heavy financial situation. Pyunik, Mika, Banants have good financial bases, but others do not.”

In Martirosyan’s estimation, Armenian football has reached its nadir today. Youngsters who were the children of the years of hardship and starvation ten years ago play football today; still as children they didn’t have proper trainings, did not eat well, did not take a shower after matches.

“Now a generation of the recent ‘improved’ years is rising, they have already seen something,” says the specialist, referring to the latest success of the U-19’s in Europe.

Besides, he thinks that Armenian football should not be funded from abroad. “A state law about football should be adopted in Armenia. If we fail to adopt a law on football, no matter how hard we dribble the ball on the pitch we will not go anywhere, because a businessman investing in football must know what he invests for. And any club should be a joint-stock company not to depend on one person and not to meet the cruel fate of many teams.”

According to Martirosyan, the law should point out first of all the goals that football should serve, and also grant privileges to investing businessmen.

“Every governor in Azerbaijan is responsible for the development of football in his province, just like, for example, in our chess where every governor is the chairman of the chess federation of his region. And our success in chess is striking. We, too, need every province first to have its team, like in Azerbaijan, where it is obligatory,” says Martirosyan.

Another circumstance that in Martirosyan’s opinion will have a positive effect on football is attention from the state.

“In Armenia, no state official, no member of parliament or government comes to the stadium. I am sure that if the country’s president comes to football matches, half of the tribune will be filled with officials. And our footballers and people will feel that the state is behind football. This factor should not be underestimated.”

Martirosyan says success can be expected only if Armenian footballers have better physical and mental preparedness, and football has a good children’s and youth basis, as well as means and attention from the state.

“No one approaches football scientifically, but football is a great science, because it combines medicine, psychology, pedagogy, and physical training,” Martirosyan concludes.