Why captain of Azerbaijani national team Maksim Medvedev refused to play against Portugal and Serbia

The Azerbaijani national team will have to go to the most difficult qualifying matches against Portugal and Serbia without their captain Maksim Medvedev.

Announcing the squad, the AFFA official website reported that Medvedev asked head coach Gianni De Biazi not to call him to the national team for personal reasons. The Italian specialist responded positively to Maxim’s request, although it is clear that his absence will greatly weaken the team, given the defender’s extensive experience.

As haqqin.az managed to find out, referring to the head coach of the national team, the captain said that he had a sick child and that is why he asked not to invite him to the national team.

It is also worth noting that yesterday Maxim played a full match for Qarabag, in which his team beat Sabakh (2: 0).

On March 24, the Azerbaijani national team will play in the Italian Turin against Portugal. This will be the start of the 2022 World Cup qualifier. On March 27, in Debrecen, Hungary, we will play in a semi-friendly match with Qatar, which has been invited to our qualifying group on an out-of-competition basis for more fruitful preparation for the home World Cup. And finally, on March 30, Azerbaijan will host the Serbian national team in Baku as part of the next qualifying round.