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  • Sport: All Eyes On Spain As Armenia Preparesfor An Encounter With Eu

    SPORT: ALL EYES ON SPAIN AS ARMENIA PREPARES FOR AN ENCOUNTER WITH EUROPE'S BEST
    Suren Musayelyan

    ArmeniaNow.com
    04 July, 2008
    Armenia

    Football

    Armenia will be tested by another reigning champion in the forthcoming
    World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign. This became clear after Spain
    managed to pull off the European title by beating the mighty Bundes
    Team in the Euro-2008 final last weekend.

    This will be the third time since Armenia joined international
    football that its national team will play in the same qualifying
    group with either a reigning European or world champion. The records
    show, however, that on all previous occasions Armenians lost to the
    reigning champions. In 1996-1997, as part of the qualifying campaign
    for the 1998 World Cup, Armenia played against reigning European
    champions Germany and in 1998-1999, in qualification for Euro-2000,
    Armenia played reigning world champions and future European title
    winners France.

    The match against Spain in Albacete on September 10 will follow a
    tough opener against Turkey in Yerevan, a match that has an equally
    off-the-pitch importance for Armenians, who have had troubled relations
    with their western neighbor over the past centuries.

    Pyunik-Kilikya

    While Armenia's main national team will play its first-ever
    competitive game against Turkey, it has already played against
    the Spanish team in the past. In two qualifying campaigns Armenia
    suffered four defeats with an aggregate score of 0-10. Remarkably,
    Spain's victory in Yerevan four years ago allowed La Furia Roja to
    win qualification for Euro-2004, but only just.

    Spain is known to have a large following in Armenia and according to
    local bookmakers and specialists, many Armenians favored the Spaniards
    in their final against Germany last Sunday.

    Meanwhile in national league football news, the administration
    of Armenia's longstanding champion Pyunik fired head coach Armen
    Gyulbudaghyants this week finding that the champion of the last seven
    seasons has been underperforming. A1 Plus reports that assistant
    coach Vardan Minasyan, who also helps the national team's head coach,
    will now take charge. Under Minasyan Pyunik already won one of its
    overall 10 championship titles in 2004.

    Pyunik have been distinguished by their unstable play so far this
    season. The team is currently in fourth place after losing its two
    last games.

    "Very little time remains before the start of the Champions' League. We
    should pull ourselves together and get prepared well for the test
    and show as good a play as we can," A1 Plus quoted Minasyan as saying.

    FC Pyunik will start their Champions League campaign in the 2008/2009
    season against Anortosis (Cyprus). The first match between the teams
    is scheduled to be played in Cyprus on July 15 or 16, the second-leg
    match will be in Yerevan July 22/23. If Pyunik manage to overcome the
    first stage, they will face Rapid Vienna (July 29/30 and August 5/6)
    in the second qualifying round.

    Ararat and Banants learned their opponents in the first qualifying
    round of the UEFA Cup. The Yerevan clubs will play Bellinzona
    (Switzerland) and Salzburg (Austria), respectively. The first-leg
    matches of these teams are scheduled for July 17 and the return games
    for July 31.

    (More details of the draw are available on the UEFA's official website
    www.uefa.com).

    Meanwhile, Armenia has already suffered a loss in a European club
    tournament this year.

    FC Mika Ashtarak failed to progress to the second round of Intertoto,
    a competition for European clubs to win slots in the main UEFA Cup
    tournament, as the Armenian club played a goalless draw in Tiraspol,
    Moldova. The first-leg match between the two teams in Yerevan had
    ended 2-2 making the Moldovan club the winner on aggregate on the
    away goals rule.

    (Sources: A1 Plus, Football Federation of Armenia; www.uefa.com)

    Chess

    GM Tigran L. Petrosyan will fill the vacancy in the Armenian National
    Team after the untimely death of GM Karen Asryan. This was the decision
    made by the Armenian Chess Federation.

    The Armenian Men's Team will appear for the Dresden Olympiad 2008
    in November with the following composition: GMs Aronyan, Hakobyan,
    Sargsyan, Art. Minasyan, T. L. Petrosyan.

    The Armenian Women's Team will be represented by WGMs Danielyan,
    Lazarian, Aghinyan, WIMs Galoyan, S. Andriasyan.

    According to the latest FIDE rankings (as of July 1), three Armenian
    chessmen are among the 100 top players of the world.

    Levon Aronyan is in the 12th position with a rating of 2737. Vladimir
    Hakobyan (2673) and Gabriel Sargsyan (2660) are in the 45th and 61st
    positions, respectively. Vishy Anand from India tops the rankings of
    men with a rating of 2798.

    Two women grandmasters representing Armenia are among the top women's
    players of FIDE. Elina Danielyan is 16th (2495) and Lilit Lazarian
    is 40th (2436). Judith Polgar of Hungary tops the rankings with a
    rating of 2711.

    In the 137-nation rankings list Armenia is in the 11th position with
    an average rating of 2614. Russia is top of the rankings, with Ukraine
    and China following in the second and third.
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