Soccer: Armenia Faces Crunch Qualifiers versus Malta and Denmark

Armenia’s World Cup campaign hangs in the balance. With just three points on the board from an opening day away-win against Malta to show for their exploits thus far, time is well and truly running out. With games in hand on the teams setting the pace in the group, the Armenian ship needs to be righted immediately. From the upcoming pair of qualifiers this week, a minimum of four points from the six on offer is required for Armenia to keep itself alive in the group, with the full complement of six points from six putting their campaign back on track and bringing the second place playoff berth within their grasp once again. The resurrection can begin with the visit of Malta to the Republican Stadium in Yerevan on Fri. June 7, followed by an away fixture in Denmark on Tue. June 11. Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Italy 5 4 1 0 12 4 +8 13 Bulgaria 6 2 4 0 11 4 +7 10 Czech Republic 5 2 2 1 6 4 +2 8 Denmark 5 1 3 1 6 5 +1 6 Armenia 4 1 0 3 2 7 −5 3 Malta 5 0 0 5 1 14 −13 0 Armenia’s form has been inconsistent of late. The much-touted attacking prowess that was once so prevalent in Armenia’s play has lost its edge in recent games, with good chances more often than not going a begging at the offensive end. At the back, injuries have plagued a once consistent back four, while the obvious defensive frailties to the aerial attack and down the flanks have continually been exposed. Inconsistent performances and poor form can be corrected, however, and the storm the team finds itself in can be weathered. As the cliché goes, form is temporary, class is permanent. Classy performances seem to be the norm for many of the Armenian players at club level. Mkhitaryan, Movsisyan, and Özbiliz, to name but a few, garner much acclaim at their respective clubs and around Europe for their level and consistency of performance week-in and week-out. Transferring such form to the international stage has been elusive during this campaign. Armenia and Coach Minasyan will look to the high-profile players in the squad to put in high-profile performances over the next two games in the hopes of salvaging a disappointing campaign up to now. First up for Armenia will be a stubborn Malta side. Although the Maltese currently prop up the Group, they are a side that can pose some problems, a side that plays to their strengths and has been unlucky not to earn any points this campaign. As perennial underdogs, they will rely on solid defensive cohesion and organization. Malta will most likely set up in a defensive posture away from home, with their main attacking ideas flowing through the experienced striker Michael Mifsud. He is the danger man for Malta amassing 36 goals over 95 caps, and Armenia needs to keep him in check. As the home side, the onus will be on Armenia to break the visitors down. This does not play to Armenia’s strengths, however. As a counter-attacking team, Armenia’s pace in transition and in attack tends to be less effective against teams that effectively “park the bus,” setting their stall out to be hard to break down in the hopes of earning a draw. In such cases, early goals blow those defensive tactics out of the water, forcing teams out of their defensive shell in search of an equalizer, only to leave gaps in behind that can be further exploited. If the early goal isn’t forthcoming, patience will be key. If spells of dominance go unrewarded, it will be important to continue playing the right way—running the channels, maintaining possession, pulling players out of position. Although a healthy score-line is desired, it only takes one moment of magic to break the deadlock, and one goal to take the points. Armenia’s visit to Denmark should be an altogether different affair. As the home side, and as fellow strugglers in the group, the Danes will look to dictate the pace and tempo of the play in front of their expectant home crowd. As the away side, Armenia should expect to concede some possession in the game while maintaining its own clear ideas of hitting Denmark on the counter-attack. During the last international break, the Danes hit the Czech Republic for an emphatic 3-0 victory away from home, and the Czech team responded with a 3-0 victory of their own away to Armenia days later in Yerevan. Denmark followed up its only victory of this campaign with a 1-1 stalemate at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen versus Bulgaria. After dominating proceedings against Bulgaria, Denmark fell behind before ultimately equalizing from the spot. Pushing for the winner, Denmark was lucky to avoid defeat as Bulgaria spurned a chance at stealing all three points late in the game. That is what Armenia must do in Copenhagen: defend resolutely, counter with guile and purpose, and above all, take the chances that present themselves and in doing so quieting the partisan crowd. In team news, it looks like Daniel Agger will not be available for Denmark due to a lingering back injury, while Denmark's Football Association has suspended Nicklas Bendtner from its international setup for six months after he was arrested for drunk-driving earlier in the year. Bendtner, who is currently on loan at Juventus from his parent club Arsenal, will be a loss up front for Denmark. Veteran Dennis Rommedahl will look to pick up the slack and add to his 21 goals over an impressive 124 international cap career. For Armenia the time is now. Key players are fit and in form. This must translate into points. The flickering embers of hope that remain for an Armenian trip to Brazil 2014 could be fanned into a flame with the right results this week. If not, the dream will be extinguished for yet another campaign and Armenia will need to build again. Armenia Squad: R. Berezovsky, G. Kasparov, A. Harutyunian, R. Arzumanyan, V. Aleksanyan, K. Hovhannisyan, T. Voskanyan, V. Haroyan, A. Khachaturov, A. Avakian, K. Mkrtchyan, D. Manoyan, A. Yedigaryan, A. Özbiliz, H. Mkhitaryan, M. Pizzelli, G. Ghazaryan, N. Aslanyan, A. Yuspashyan, E. Manucharyan, Y. Movsisyan, A. Sarkisov Coach: V. Minasyan Malta: J. Haber, A. Hogg, J. Caruana, A. Muscat, A. Agius, L. Dimech, C. Failla, R. Camilleri, J. Borg, S. Borg, G. Sciberras, R. Briffa, R. Fenech, P. Fenech, R. Muscat, S. Bajada, M. Mifsud, A. Cohen, A. Schembri, E. Herrera, T. Vella, D. Bogdanović, E. Barbara, C. Frendo Coach: P. Ghedin Denmark: S. Andersen, K. Schmeichel, J. Hansen, L. Jacobsen, S. Kjær, S. Poulsen, D. Wass, A. Bjelland, J. Okore, K. Hansen, P. Ankersen, W. Kvist, C. Eriksen, M. Krohn-Dehli, N. Zimling, L. Schöne, N. Stokholm, K. Kusk, D. Rommedahl, A. Cornelius, S. Makienok, V. Fischer, M. Braithwaite, N. Pedersen Coach: M. Olsen

Soccer: Armenia Faces Crunch Qualifiers versus Malta and Denmark

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M.J. Graham

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This story is FREE for you...

M.J. Graham

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