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  • Armenia's French football coach promises gradual improvement

    ARMINFO NEWS AGENCY
    August 10, 2004

    ARMENIA'S FRENCH FOOTBALL COACH PROMISES GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT



    Yerevan, 6 August: "I am not a magician and we will achieve good
    results gradually," the new Armenian national football coach, French
    specialist Bernard Casoni, told a news conference today. He was
    appointed the head coach of the Armenian national team on 2 August
    and arrived in Yerevan the night before the news conference.

    Asked by an Arminfo correspondent about the chances of the Armenian
    team of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany (Armenia
    will play the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Finland, Romania,
    Andorra and Macedonia (in their qualifying group)), Bernard Casoni
    noted that it is in matches with such top teams as the Czech Republic
    and the Netherlands that teams such as Armenia gain experience and
    proficiency. Bernard Casoni acknowledged he knew nearly nothing about
    Armenian football and the Armenian national team and in the first
    qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje on 18 August he will prefer the
    group of players already in the national team, at least for the time
    being. The French specialist intends to consult the leadership of the
    Armenian Football Federation about players. Footballers playing both
    in the Armenian national football league and abroad are expected to
    be in the national team. "My first impressions suggest that there are
    quite a few good players in Armenia who just need to be brought on,"
    Bernard Casoni said. As far as Armenia's sports facilities are
    concerned, the country lacks first-class facilities, but whatever is
    in place should be developed and improved.

    Asked by an Arminfo correspondent if the national team is going to
    play in an attacking style or defensively, Bernard Casoni said that
    every single match will define its own tactics.

    "Right now, I am thinking only of our forthcoming match with the
    Macedonians. I watch films of their matches and think about how to
    organize the upcoming match," said the coach of the Armenian national
    football team.

    In his turn, Ruben Ayrapetyan, head of the Armenian Football
    Federation and a member of the Armenian National Assembly
    (parliament), who attended the press conference, said that the
    contract with Casoni has been signed for a year. Unlike his
    predecessors, expatriates that used to train both the national team
    and Pyunik, Casoni is going to concentrate only on the national team
    and will give guidance to Armenia's teenage and youth teams.

    "Of course, in view of the group that we have ended up in, we do not
    set the objective of qualifying for the World Cup, but we will do our
    best to make sure that the national team plays good football,"
    Ayrapetyan said.
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