Special for the Armenian Weekly
It has been a little over six months since Bernard Challandes took the helm of the Armenian National Team and since then a lot has happened, both in the world of international football and internally within the Armenian setup. World Cup 2014 has come and gone with the tournament not disappointing. It showcased the best teams in the world, elevated star players such as Messi and Neymar Jr. to new heights, and introduced breakout stars such as James Rodriguez of Colombia and Joel Campbell of Costa Rica. It proved to be the platform that galvanized the legacy of veteran German striker Miroslav Klose and a launching pad for other emerging talents such as Mario Götse to become household names. That is what a major tournament is all about. For a little over a month, it holds the attentions of close to a billion viewers across the globe and every four years captivates a new generation of children, cultivating their dreams of the beautiful game. The festive celebrations that are the World Cup and the European Championships are parties that the Armenian players have yet to earn an invite to, and have been up to now elusive goals that have yet to be achieved.
The World Cup is now in the books, and since time and tide waits for no man or woman, the focus must now shift to a new campaign, a new goal, a new prize. Armenia will once again set out its stall in a challenging qualifying group. Along with Armenia, Portugal, Serbia, Albania, and familiar foes Denmark will make up the only qualifying group with a reduced five teams. All other eight groups contain the usual six teams. This fact places extra emphasis on the 8 group matches Armenia will play over the next 14 months as it is set to meet each of the other 4 teams in both home and away fixtures. Two other matches will accompany those 8, a pair of friendly fixtures against France, a nation that automatically holds a qualifying berth as hosts of the expanded 24-team tournament. There are 53 teams vying for the remaining 23 spots and as the last-minute preparations and final warm-up matches take place before the opening qualifiers, all teams will be dreaming big.
The Armenian team will travel to the Skonto Stadium in Riga for their final warm-up match against Latvia on Wed., Sept. 3, before returning to the Telia Parken arena in Copenhagen to face Denmark on Sun., Sept. 7, the scene of one of their most impressive results, a 4:0 victory during the last campaign. The Latvian team is ranked 100 in the latest FIFA world rankings and is entering the fixture in a buoyant mood after their victory in the Baltic Cup (a four-team tournament that was held earlier this summer and saw Latvia get the better of Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania). Armenia has only faced Latvia on one occasion, a 0:0 stalemate played out in Cyprus back in 2009. This fixture will be Challandes’ fourth match in charge and will be the team’s final rehearsal for any and all new ideas and personnel the Swiss coach has implemented since his arrival. The previous three matches resulted in a high scoring win against the U.A.E., followed by a pair of disappointing performances that resulted in heavy defeats against Algeria and Germany—both of which were played while Algeria and Germany were in top form as they geared up for the World Cup. Both teams would go on to record very impressive performances in Brazil.
In both of those defeats, Armenia was exposed at times by fast, athletic play by imposing and physically strong players. The result versus Germany specifically highlighted how lapses in concentration can be punished with ruthless efficiency by the soon to be newly crowned World Champions. That result was poor from an Armenian perspective, but other so-called illustrious sides were dealt the same treatment as Germany later dismantled Portugal 4:0 and steamrolled their way into the World Cup final with a record 7:1 victory over Brazil. The key points to take away from those defeats and from the surprise results of the World Cup are relatively simple: While teams need to establish an identity and style of play, individual game tactics should also be devised and implemented based on match-ups. Different teams pose different challenges. Tactics and formations should also remain flexible and dynamic to react to how things develop and unfold on a game by game basis.
There were prime examples of this throughout the World Cup. Teams that failed in this task are those mentioned above, which suffered heavy defeats to Germany. But only days apart from those rampant performances, Germany was held in check and at times rattled by tactically astute and dynamic performances from Ghana and Algeria. Another example of an underdog getting their tactics spot on was seen during Costa Rica’s victory over Italy, a game where high-pressing tactics harassed and harangued the normally calm Italian midfielders into mistakes that proved costly.
As Armenia develops under the stewardship of their experienced Swiss coach, the tactical naivety that sometimes crept into previous performances should eventually be eliminated, allowing the team to showcase its expansive attacking strengths while maintaining a solid, compressed defensive shape. Scoring goals has never been a problem for this group of talented players, but developing a ruthless rearguard that prides itself on clean sheets and an impressive home record should provide a steady platform for this campaign.
The Denmark players and coaching staff are all too aware of Armenia’s attacking prowess. Their shock home defeat to Armenia last year scuttled their World Cup bid and struck a psychological blow to a country that has a proven track record and tradition for qualifying for tournaments. The extent of that defeat has resulted in the Danish football federation billing this rematch with Armenia as a revenge match on its own ticket sales webpage. Danish coach Morton Olsen has made two late additions to his previously announced 21-man squad, supplementing his originally limited attacking options of young Toulouse player Martin Braithwaite with debutant Lasse Vibe of IFK Göteborg and the experienced Nicklas Bendtner, a player fresh off of a summer move to the German side Wolfsburg. Both additions to the squad carry some doubt, however, especially with Vibe being unproven at the international level and Bendtner’s form and fitness, not for the first time, coming into question.
Armenia looks to be without their talisman up-front Yura Movsisyan due to injury, and Edgar Manucharyan may not be 100 percent fit either. The remainder of the squad is as expected, with forward Artur Miranyan and goalkeeper Arsen Beglaryan two welcome young additions. The qualifiers will come thick and fast over the next few months for Challandes and his players, stern tests that the team must overcome. The team is primed, focused, and ready to go, so let the first steps on the road to France begin in earnest.
Armenia:
Berezovsky, Kasparov, Beglaryan, Arzumanyan, Mkoyan, Airapetian, Haroyan, Hambardzumyan, Voskanyan, Mkhitaryan, Ghazaryan, Mkrtchyan, Yedigaryan, Pizzelli, Hovhannisyan, Aslanyan, Badoyan, Dashyan, Hovsepyan, Manucharyan, Sarkisov, Guevgeozian, Miranyan
Coach: Challandes
Latvia:
Koļinko, Šteinbors, Gorkšs, Maksimenko, Jagodinskis, Timofejevs, Dubra, Freimanis, Bulvītis, Kurakins, Gabovs, Lazdiņš, Zjuzins, Cauņa, Fertovs, Laizāns, Rugins, Žigajevs, Kovaļovs, Rudņevs, Višņakovs, Šabala
Coach: Pahars
Denmark:
Schmeichel, Larsen, Andersen, Bjelland, Agger, Wass, Knudsen, Kjær, Ankersen, Boilesen, Eriksen, Poulsen, Kusk, Andreasen, Würtz, Krohn-Dehli, Højbjerg, Kahlenberg, Schöne, Kvist, Braithwaite, Vibe, Bendtner
Coach: Olsen
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