Shahin Diniyev

Shahin Diniyev (born 12 July 1966 [http://www.azerifootball.com/archive/default.aspx?lg=2&idpt=1101&dd=7&mm=12&yy=2005 Azerifootball.com - News Archive "Shakhin Diniyev will be the new coach of Azerbaijan national team" 7 December 2005 (retrieved 17 September 2006)] ] , Azeri: "Şahin Diniyev") is an Azerbaijani football manager. Currently, he serves as the manager of the Azerbaijan national football team.

Life and career

Diniyev played football as a midfielder. His club career career included spells in the USSR, and later Russia, Israel with Beitar Jerusalem and finally back to Azerbaijan, where he ended his career with Dinamo Baku. [http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/EURO/Teams/team=57154/kindstatic=1/index.html UEFA.com - Shakhin Diniyev 08/01/2006 (retrieved 17 September 2006)] ] [http://www.playerhistory.com/Default.aspx?page=player_details&playerID=69434 Playerhistory.com - Shakhin Diniyev (retrieved 17 September 2006)] >] . He competed 16 times for the Azerbaijani national team, gaining no international caps with the USSR before independence. Following a period as a youth coach, Diniyev moved into management, first with FK Karabakh and then FK Kapaz (now known as FK Gandja).

Azerbaijan national team career

In November 2005, he impressed the AFFA sufficiently to be awarded with the national team job, promising to restructure the squad with an emphasis on youth and to help turn Azerbaijan into a credible force within UEFA competition. Replacing Vagyf Sadygov, Diniyev's first game in charge was a friendly against Ukraine in Baku [http://www.fifa.com/en/mens/results/resultsdetails/0,2962,,00.html?param7=1&dd=0&param5=ALL&select13=AZE&select14=ALL&radiobutton=ALL FIFA - Azerbaijan - Result Details (retrieved 17 September 2006)] ] at the Tofig Bakhramov Stadium; the result was 0-0, a minor success against stronger opposition.

In further friendlies, a shock 1-1 draw against Turkey and another 0-0 draw against Moldova followed. Diniyev was soon to witness his first defeat as Azerbaijan coach: in August 2006 he watched his team succumb to a 6-0 defeat against Ukraine, this time in Kiev. This game was the final friendly match before qualification for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship began. (See Azerbaijan national football team.)

Under Diniyev, the Azerbaijan squad has given debuts to not only young players but also some naturalised foreigners, such as Leandro Gomes of FK Baku, [http://www.azerifootball.com/archive/default.aspx?lg=2&idpt=1101&id=10385 Azerifootball.com - News Archive "Leandro Gomes to play for Azerbaijan" 4th September 2006 (retrieved 17 September 2006)] ] who was born in Brazil. [http://www.bakifc.com/index.php?sub=1&sid=5&lang=az# FK Baku - Official Website - Squad (retrieved 17 September 2006] >]

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.affa.az/?lg=az Azerbaycan Futbol Federasiyaları Assosiasiyası] - English language version also available

Biz inaniriq Shahin Diniyev Azerbaijan komandasinin yiqmasini ozu ile ireliye aparacaq. Ona gelecek oyunlarda ugurlar arzulayiram.