Football journalist and expert Andrei Shakhov shared his opinion on how the dismissal of Fernando Santos from the position of head coach of Azerbaijan will affect the performance of the national team against Ukraine in today's World Cup 2026 qualifying match.
Andrei Shakhov"Before the match against us, Azerbaijan dismissed its head coach, the Portuguese Fernando Santos.
On the one hand, a change of coach always serves as an additional incentive for the players, but on the other hand, the Azerbaijani team was still prepared for the match against Ukraine by the Portuguese coach one way or another. Well, his substitute will be on the bench...
I believe that the Azerbaijanis will be more motivated to redeem themselves after the collapse in Iceland (0:5, - ed.). Also, we must consider the distance of the flight. However, the route our team took (on the way from Wrocław, Poland, where the match Ukraine - France took place last Friday, - ed.), in order not to fly through the combat zone, somewhat diminishes this advantage," Shakhov wrote in his Telegram channel "Shakh i Shakh".
