Tweet
Armenia set Poulsen's pulse racing
Thursday 21 February 2008by Khachik Chakhoyan from Yerevan
New Armenia coach Jan B Poulsen told uefa.com he was
impressed after taking a first look at his new charges
at the recent international tournament in Malta.
First look
The 61-year-old Dane shocked many in the former Soviet
republic when he admitted that he had "only seen two
Armenia matches" before accepting the job of replacing
Ian Porterfield, who died of cancer towards the end of
the UEFA EURO 2008' qualifying campaign. However, wins
against Malta and Belarus - and a defeat by Iceland -
have helped him size up the task he has taken on.
'Main goal'
"This tournament was very important for me," said the
former Singapore coach after the 2-6 February event.
"I got to know the players and found out what they are
capable of. It is one thing to see them in training,
but to see them in action is completely different. I'm
very glad we beat Malta and Belarus, but the main goal
was to get to know the players."
Winning mentality
Armenia finished seventh in their eight-team group in
UEFA EURO 2008' qualifying but earned some creditable
results. They will play Spain, Turkey, Belgium,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Estonia in 2010 FIFA World Cup
qualifying, and while Poulsen said fans needed "to be
realistic" he countered: "In every game we will be
playing for a win. You're going nowhere if you're
thinking about losing."
Achilles heel
Thinking about losing has been one of Armenia's
achilles heels in international football, and it was
something which Poulsen saw in action in Malta. While
the national team have always been fine once they have
a lead in matches, they have shown a disturbing
tendency to slump once they go behind. Sure enough,
having won their opening games in Malta, they lost
their final one 2-0 against Iceland.
'A big job'
"I saw this situation very clearly in the match
against Iceland," said the man who helped Denmark win
the 1992 UEFA European Championship as coach Richard
Møller Nielsen's assistant. "We conceded a goal in the
last minute of the first half and mentally slumped. We
have a big job to do in this respect. Players need to
be ready to fight from the first minute until the
final whistle."
Promising signs
Changing that mentality will be a long-term goal, but
overall Poulsen sees plenty of promise for the years
to come. "I only had the chance to test a few young
players but all of them left a good impression," he
said. "Everybody was playing at their maximum during
all the matches and fighting for every ball. The
Armenian team has excellent prospects."
©uefa.com 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Thursday 21 February 2008by Khachik Chakhoyan from Yerevan
New Armenia coach Jan B Poulsen told uefa.com he was
impressed after taking a first look at his new charges
at the recent international tournament in Malta.
First look
The 61-year-old Dane shocked many in the former Soviet
republic when he admitted that he had "only seen two
Armenia matches" before accepting the job of replacing
Ian Porterfield, who died of cancer towards the end of
the UEFA EURO 2008' qualifying campaign. However, wins
against Malta and Belarus - and a defeat by Iceland -
have helped him size up the task he has taken on.
'Main goal'
"This tournament was very important for me," said the
former Singapore coach after the 2-6 February event.
"I got to know the players and found out what they are
capable of. It is one thing to see them in training,
but to see them in action is completely different. I'm
very glad we beat Malta and Belarus, but the main goal
was to get to know the players."
Winning mentality
Armenia finished seventh in their eight-team group in
UEFA EURO 2008' qualifying but earned some creditable
results. They will play Spain, Turkey, Belgium,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Estonia in 2010 FIFA World Cup
qualifying, and while Poulsen said fans needed "to be
realistic" he countered: "In every game we will be
playing for a win. You're going nowhere if you're
thinking about losing."
Achilles heel
Thinking about losing has been one of Armenia's
achilles heels in international football, and it was
something which Poulsen saw in action in Malta. While
the national team have always been fine once they have
a lead in matches, they have shown a disturbing
tendency to slump once they go behind. Sure enough,
having won their opening games in Malta, they lost
their final one 2-0 against Iceland.
'A big job'
"I saw this situation very clearly in the match
against Iceland," said the man who helped Denmark win
the 1992 UEFA European Championship as coach Richard
Møller Nielsen's assistant. "We conceded a goal in the
last minute of the first half and mentally slumped. We
have a big job to do in this respect. Players need to
be ready to fight from the first minute until the
final whistle."
Promising signs
Changing that mentality will be a long-term goal, but
overall Poulsen sees plenty of promise for the years
to come. "I only had the chance to test a few young
players but all of them left a good impression," he
said. "Everybody was playing at their maximum during
all the matches and fighting for every ball. The
Armenian team has excellent prospects."
©uefa.com 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress