Tweet
REBORN ARMENIA HUNGRY TO STUN IRELAND
By Aidan Fitzmaurice
Herald.ie, Ireland
Oct 11 2011
Boss Minasyan insists his 'golden generation' can silence Aviva roar
ARMENIA claims to be one of the oldest civilisations in Europe.
But tonight, the words which sum up this nation of three million come
from the mouth of the manager of their national football team: youth,
passion, energy, confidence.
You'd expect that when their manager is 37, only a boy when compared
to Giovanni Trapattoni.
Their side is brimful of youth -- the team which hammered Macedonia
4-1 last week had four players aged 22, and eight of the side are 26
or younger.
"I believe this is a golden generation for our players," Vardan
Minasyan said at last night's pre-match press conference in Dublin.
"This generation have more confidence, they are young but they have
great desire, they want to achieve something in their lives as they
have only started to play football and they want to get more from
football.
"We have two main things: confidence and experience. We have a very
young team but they are getting more experience, and they are also
getting more confident."
Armenia coming to Dublin as genuine contenders to sneak a play-off
spot at our expense was not to be expected. Not when the draw for
these qualifiers was made, as Armenia finished bottom of their group
in the last qualifying campaign (for the 2010 World Cup) and then
began the new campaign just like they played in the previous one.
Poorly, taking just one point from the first two games.
But the side has been reborn in recent games, a team boosted by the
influx of talent from am exciting U21 side which destroyed Ireland
6-2 on aggregate in two Euro qualifiers over the space of five months
in 2009-10.
Back in March 2010, the Armenian U21 team came to Dublin and swarmed
past Ireland again with a 2-1 win, a result which -- finally -- caused
the end of Don Givens' reign as U21 team boss. Lessons from that
game for tonight, as those classy Armenians have progressed en bloc:
of the U21 side which saw off Givens in Tallaght, eight of the team
are in the Armenian senior squad for tonight (only one Irishman from
that evening is involved with us, Seamus Coleman). Tonight's game is
a big deal, not just in Yerevan but in Paris and San Diego and Boston
and Melbourne and everywhere else that Armenians have found themselves.
Heritage
The country from which sprang forth the ancestors of Youri Djorkaeff
and (ahem) Kim Kardashian know what it would mean to their small
nation to win a place in the play-offs, and with so many people of
Armenian heritage in France, a play-off against the French in Paris
would be something special.
Now all they have to do is win the game, something they feel they
can do. Last night, coach Minasyan was asked if he was afraid of the
pace in the Irish side and how he could combat it. "We don't just
want to stop the Irish playing, we want to play as well," Minasyan
says with a smile, his face letting the local media know that his
side have not come to Dublin for the shopping and the sights.
- Aidan Fitzmaurice
http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/reborn-armenia-hungry-to-stun-ireland-2901801.html
From: Baghdasarian
By Aidan Fitzmaurice
Herald.ie, Ireland
Oct 11 2011
Boss Minasyan insists his 'golden generation' can silence Aviva roar
ARMENIA claims to be one of the oldest civilisations in Europe.
But tonight, the words which sum up this nation of three million come
from the mouth of the manager of their national football team: youth,
passion, energy, confidence.
You'd expect that when their manager is 37, only a boy when compared
to Giovanni Trapattoni.
Their side is brimful of youth -- the team which hammered Macedonia
4-1 last week had four players aged 22, and eight of the side are 26
or younger.
"I believe this is a golden generation for our players," Vardan
Minasyan said at last night's pre-match press conference in Dublin.
"This generation have more confidence, they are young but they have
great desire, they want to achieve something in their lives as they
have only started to play football and they want to get more from
football.
"We have two main things: confidence and experience. We have a very
young team but they are getting more experience, and they are also
getting more confident."
Armenia coming to Dublin as genuine contenders to sneak a play-off
spot at our expense was not to be expected. Not when the draw for
these qualifiers was made, as Armenia finished bottom of their group
in the last qualifying campaign (for the 2010 World Cup) and then
began the new campaign just like they played in the previous one.
Poorly, taking just one point from the first two games.
But the side has been reborn in recent games, a team boosted by the
influx of talent from am exciting U21 side which destroyed Ireland
6-2 on aggregate in two Euro qualifiers over the space of five months
in 2009-10.
Back in March 2010, the Armenian U21 team came to Dublin and swarmed
past Ireland again with a 2-1 win, a result which -- finally -- caused
the end of Don Givens' reign as U21 team boss. Lessons from that
game for tonight, as those classy Armenians have progressed en bloc:
of the U21 side which saw off Givens in Tallaght, eight of the team
are in the Armenian senior squad for tonight (only one Irishman from
that evening is involved with us, Seamus Coleman). Tonight's game is
a big deal, not just in Yerevan but in Paris and San Diego and Boston
and Melbourne and everywhere else that Armenians have found themselves.
Heritage
The country from which sprang forth the ancestors of Youri Djorkaeff
and (ahem) Kim Kardashian know what it would mean to their small
nation to win a place in the play-offs, and with so many people of
Armenian heritage in France, a play-off against the French in Paris
would be something special.
Now all they have to do is win the game, something they feel they
can do. Last night, coach Minasyan was asked if he was afraid of the
pace in the Irish side and how he could combat it. "We don't just
want to stop the Irish playing, we want to play as well," Minasyan
says with a smile, his face letting the local media know that his
side have not come to Dublin for the shopping and the sights.
- Aidan Fitzmaurice
http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/reborn-armenia-hungry-to-stun-ireland-2901801.html
From: Baghdasarian