Celebration with white flags started before the match. A few hours before the start of the match metro stations and buses were crowded with people. It was impossible to walk through the territory of the stadium. After the first whistle of the referee you could not see an empty chair in the stadium.
The stadium was full with little white flags of football club “Karabakh”. This detail is the continuation of the right policy which is followed by the appointment of head coach Gurban Gurbanov in 2008.
BATE, “Maribor”, “Shakhtar” Donetsk, “Ludogorets” and other eastern European clubs are showing results after some years.
At the beginning of the match Osvaldo made some good tricks and the tribunes were silent. Soon “Karabakh” made a good moment and 19-year-old Namiq Alasgarov missed target. The tribunes started shouting and lit sparklers.
Six local players were in lineup of the Azerbaijani club. Two Azerbaijanis were substitutes. There is a good balance of locals and legionaries in the club.
I think Leroy George was the best player. He made some dangerous offences and was very active in the second half.
Roberto Mancini often got out of his chair and gave instructions to the players. He paid more attention to young players Obi, Mbaye and Isaac Donkor. 17-year-old Federico Dimarco and 18-year-old Enrico Baldini showed up on the field as substitutes.
Dimarco kicked the ball with left leg and then shot the ball toward the net. Enrico Baldini did nothing interesting.
The main episode of the match happened at the 94th minute when the goal of “Karabakh” was not counted. The linesman was late to show offside and after scoring goal fans were celebrating and shouting with joy. However, the late decision of the Czech referee made the hosts sad and angry. The fans threw some things toward the referee. The local journalists were also angry. One of them tore the official program of the match and threw it toward the referee.
This episode happened at the end of the match and the fans were disappointed they did not have time to change the situation.
After the match I was trying to recall when Georgian club played draw with so-called top league representative and “Ameri” Tbilisi-“Hertha” Berlin (2:2) came to my mind. This match was held in “Mikheil Meskhi” in 2006.
Overall, “Karabakh” played well. The club of Mancini is not European grand but the Italians had better class than the Azerbaijanis. The fact that goal was not scored in the net of Sehic and the Azerbaijanis lost only once at the group stage, means that “Karabakh” had successful European season. The Azerbaijanis were very disappointed after the match. The press conference of Gurban Gurbanov was conducted only in Azerbaijani language and neither the Italian words of Mancini were translated.
Dima Sharikadze, specially for worldsport.ge from Baku
