In the qualifying round of the World Cup, the Armenian national team held three consecutive matches, three completely different games, which had a different look, mood and quality. Before the match against North Macedonia in the 4th round, the Armenian team had a 100% result, celebrating 3 victories in three matches and leading the tournament table with 9 points. This fact became a subject of great discussions in the Armenian press, as well as was covered by the German media. Germany, which is among the top 10 teams in the world, was only the second in the tournament table.
In the game against North Macedonia, Joaquín Caparrós’ team played more in the midfield, and there was an impression that a draw was acceptable for the Armenian team, which would bring the points of the Armenian team to 10. The statistics showed that the Macedonians had more control of the ball, were more accurate with the ball and more effective. Anyway, the game ended in a draw, 0-0.
In the match against Germany, the Armenian team was "crushed" during the first half, as it was already losing 0: 4 before the break, and let in two more goals in the second half. The score of 0: 6 spoke about the level of the game and the teams. German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer added fuel to the fire and announced after the game that teams like Armenia, Macedonia and Iceland cannot play in the World Cup.
This part of the round ended with a game against Liechtenstein, the statistics of which gave an absolute advantage to the Armenian team, but the players of the Liechtenstein team were happy with the final result.
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Unlike the first three games of the qualifying round, in the next three games there was no discipline in the actions of the Armenian team, there style of the play that could be clearly noted at the beginning, was missing. At the end of these three games, especially after the game against Liechtenstein, the head coach of the Armenian national team Joaquín Caparrós stressed that "football is like this, sometimes unfair."
After three matches, there was a great deal of discussion among professionals and football fans that the team is not so successful when the long-time captain, Roma midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, joins the team. Football fans said that only taking into account the facts, the team had won the previous games in which Mkhitaryan did not participate, and gained just two points in the games with his participation. Some expressed the opinion that Mkhitaryan's participation somehow has an impact on other players.
However, Mkhitaryan was and remains the leader of the Armenian national team, who holds the title of the best striker of all time, and is able to act and organize the game in the positions instructed by the coach. Mkhitaryan is one of the best midfielders in Europe, but football is a group game of 11. Messi is one of the best in human history, but Argentina has not yet become a world cha...
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