‘Lots learnt in FIFA series’

AZERBAIJAN: TAIFA Stars Interim Head Coach, Hemed Suleiman has admitted that they have learnt many things at the elapsed FIFA Series 2024 that will help the team to be competitive.

The country’s envoys produced a sweet 3-0 win over Mongolia in their second and final match of the FIFA Series at Dalga Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday.

Kelvin John, Abdul Suleiman, and Novatus Dismas were all on target as Stars disappointed their opponents with a massive victory and it was a second back-to-back upset for Mongolia who suffered a 1-0 defeat from Azerbaijan in their inaugural fixture.

“First, I would like to congratulate my players for their work rate as they fought hard to claim this important win after losing 0-1 in our first match against Bulgaria.

“This was a good responce and I am happy with what I saw although we still need to improve, especially on goal scoring efficiency, bearing in mind that we missed several scoring opportunities.

“In football, you need to make good use of the chances you create as the match unfolds, and this is an area we have to work on but in terms of the progress of the team, I am convinced with what I have seen,” Suleiman said.

On his part, Kelvin John who opened the scoreboard said they put into practice what they learned during training sessions before the game, hence the reason behind the success.

“We had time to train and watch video clips on how Mongolia play…this helped us and the technical bench to form a winning plan that has worked well…it was teamwork that necessitated this output,” he said.

Similarly, midfielder Himid Mao thanked the government for its massive support to the team, saying it helps to lift the spirits of players.

“We request the same gesture to continue during the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers and World Cup qualifiers for us to do much better,” he said.

Tanzania finished third on the table with three points while hosts Azerbaijan topped the ladder courtesy of four points, similar to secondplaced Bulgaria, whereas Mongolia secured the bottom slot, with point-less and winless.

The FIFA Series was first announced as a FIFA initiative in December 2022 under the name FIFA World Series and later confirmed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino on March 16th, 2023 following his re-election to the post during the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.

It brings together men’s national teams from its six confederations in a series of friendly tournaments during the FIFA match window in March and it is intended to provide FIFA’s member associations with key playing opportunities, by allowing them to play more regularly with teams from other confederations, which they would otherwise not face, letting them get greater technical development opportunities.