Northern Ireland v Azerbaijan Offical Match Programme

THE GOALGETTER 8LI RMTT] X[S JSSXIH ŭ ű WXVMOIV QMHƤIPHIV [EW FSVR MR XLI JSVQIV 9776 MR Kazakhstan which meant that after the break-up of the USSR he was eligible to TPE] JSV ER] SJ XLI RI[P] JSVQIH MRHITIRHIRX VITYFPMGW Ʉ ;LIR LI [EW EKIH NYWX SRI LMW JEQMP] [LS [IVI SJ +IVQER I\XVEGXMSR QSZIH to Germany. In his youth ‘Dima’ played for Wormatia Worms, moving in 2009 to /EMWIVWPEYXIVRɄERH XLIR SR XS )MRXVEGLX *VEROJYVX %JXIV XLVII ]IEVW [MXL /EVPWVYLI LMW GSRXVEGXɄ[EW RSX VIRI[IH EX XLI IRH SJ WIEWSR ERH LI NSMRIH Erzgebirge Aue, newly promoted into the Second Bundesliga. In October 2012 he was spotted by then Azerbaijan head coach Berti Vogts and [EW WIPIGXIH JSV E ;' UYEPMƤIV EKEMRWX 6YWWME XLEX QSRXL At the time he only possessed a German passport – and he wasn’t able to play because the Azerbaijani Football Federation failed to organise the issuing of an Azerbaijani passport. ,I ƤREPP] QEHI LMW MRXIVREXMSREP HIFYX MR 1E] MR E JVMIRHP] EKEMRWX XLI 9RMXIH States in San Francisco (2-0 defeat). 7GSVIH LMW ƤVWX KSEP JSV %^IVFEMNER MR 7ITXIQFIV MR E )YVS UYEPMƤIV against Bulgaria (2-1 defeat). One of his proudest moments was scoring the goal to equalise against Italy in Baku in October 2015, although the Italians won 3-1in the end. Played in all 10 Euro UYEPMƤIVW WGSVMRK XLVII SJ %^IVFEMNERŭW WIZIR KSEPW % OI] QIQFIV SJ XLI XIEQ LI TPE]IH MR XLI GIRXVI SJ QMHƤIPH MR LMW GSYRXV]ŭW STIRMRK XLVII Ƥ\XYVIW MR ;' UYEPMJ]MRK THE LINKMAN 8LI LEVH [SVOMRK ŭ ű HIJIRWMZI QMHƤIPH TPE]IV SGGYTMIW E ZMXEP VSPI EW PMROQER in front of the back four in the 4-1-4-1 formation favoured by coach Prosinecki. ,I LEW TPE]IH MR EPP XLVII ;' UYEPMƤIVW XS HEXI ,EW TPE]IH JSV *' 5EVEFEKL since 2008, joining the club as a 16-year-old. His team have been league GLEQTMSRWɄJSV XLI PEWX XLVII WIEWSRW ERH GYT [MRRIVW JSV XLI PEWX X[S WIEWSRW -R 2014 he was voted Azerbaijan’s Player of the Year. Made his international debut in March 2013 in a 0-0 draw away against 0Y\IQFSYVK MR E ;' UYEPMƤIV 4PE]IH MR EPP )YVS UYEPMƤIVW THE MIDFIELD DYNAMO 8LI JX JSV[EVH QMHƤIPHIV WGSVIH LMW ƤVWX MRXIVREXMSREP KSEP EKEMRWX 7ER 1EVMRS in Azerbaijan’s 1-0 away victory in September with a header just before half-time. Born in Russia, he moved to Azerbaijan, signing for Neftchi Baku, in 2010. Went on loan to Sumgayit, returning to Neftchi in 2013, winning the Azerbaijan 'YT ,EW TPE]IH MR EPP XLVII SJ %^IVFEMNERŭW ;' UYEPMƤIVW ,EH E WTIPP [MXL Hajduk Split (Croatia) in 2015 before returning to Neftchi where he was the club’s top scorer in the Azerbaijan League last season (13 goals in 31 games). 1EHI LMW MRXIVREXMSREP HIFYX EW E WYF MR E )YVS UYEPMƤIV Z 1EPXE MR 1EVGL [SR % OI] TPE]IV MR XLI QMHƤIPH JSYV 'ER TPE] SR IMXLIV ƥERO SV MR XLI centre.

RUSLAN GURBANOV FORWARD/MIDFIELD

'PYF Gabala

%KI 25

'ETW 13

Goals 1

DMITRI NAZAROV FORWARD/MIDFIELD Goals 5 'PYF Erzgebirge Aue %KI 26 'ETW 20

GARA GARAYEV

MIDFIELD

'PYF Qarabagh

%KI 23

'ETW 26

Goals 0

35

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