Soccer: Armenia Wins First Match Under Challandes

Special for the Armenian Weekly

Armenia, with new head coach Bernard Challandes secured a 4:3 victory over United Arab Emirates on Tues., May 27 at the Stade de la Fontenettein in Carouge, Switzerland. In doing so, Challandes recorded a victory on his managerial debut following his appointment earlier this year.

Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan (2), Levon Airapetian and Rumyen Hovsepyan were just enough to see off an Emirates side that posed one or two questions of the Armenian defense. In fact, the performance as a whole was a perfect microcosm of the current Armenian squad’s strengths and weaknesses, a match that was a reminder of the challenges that lay ahead for Challandes if he is to realize the goal of Euro 2016 qualification.

Armenia’s fluid and potent counter attacking style was working well against the weaker UAE team. Stalwarts of the Armenian attack, Movsisyan, Özbiliz and Mkhitaryan had everything clicking and at times, tore through the UAE defense with consummate ease. Movsisyan contributed with three assists, Mkhitaryan with two goals and Özbiliz was regularly involved in successful attacking movements. These attacking attributes would have been known to Challandes and seeing them on display first hand, only reinforces the expectations of his team to excel in the next campaign.

If plenty of Armenia’s work going forward pleased Challandes, their shortcomings on the defensive end of the field further highlighted the need for improvement in certain areas. As early as the first minute, UAE had exposed the inexperience on Haroyan in the center of the Armenian defense with only a terrific save from Gevorg Kasparov in goal sparing the youngster’s blushes. Haroyan is a strong and athletic defender but his ability to read the game and his decision making has sometimes come into question. Gevorg Kasparov was preferred in goal to the veteran Roman Berezovsky, and except for that early save, Kasparov had an indifferent performance, and was arguably at fault for two of the three goals Armenia conceded.

Armenia had a foothold in midfield and in attack throughout the match, however, the trickery of the UAE front men continued to keep the Armenian defense on their toes. UAE scored a pair of goals from close range headers off of in-swinging corner kicks. On both occasions, Kasparov was unable to dominate his area as he failed to claim the ball or fight his way through players to win a free kick in a crowded six yard box. Ismail Ahmed and Mohamed Salem managed to profit from that hesitation in net and powered both headers home from close range.

UAE’s other goal came from a probing attack down the left hand side, this time exposing the right full back Hambardzumyan. Reaching the bi-line, Ali Mabkhout had the simple task of cutting the ball back into the path of Omar Abdulrahman’s late run and he made no mistake with the finish. Hambardzumyan worked hard for the cause, but would need to improve his level of play to secure a regular starting position in the team.

Other positives from the outing were a workmanlike performance in midfield and a debut goal for Rumyen Hovsepyan as well as the long awaited national team debut of Mauro Guevgeozian. Both players should figure heavily in the upcoming campaign and add depth and further dynamism to the squad.

Overall it was a positive start from Challandes. In interviews, he has maintained a realistically positive outlook on the team and their chances for success in the upcoming campaign. He has also been active in recruiting new players to the squad. As well as that he was willing to give some young players their debut in his opening match in charge and above all, got off to a winning start.

Armenia’s next matches will be played on May 31 vs. Algeria in Sion, Switzerland and on June 6 vs. Germany in Mainz, Germany.

Armenia: Kasparov, Haroyan, Mkrtchyan, Hovsepyan (YC), Ghazaryan (90+1’ Sarkisov), Movsisyan (69’ Guevgeozian), Mkoyan, Mkhitaryan, Hambardzumyan (66’ Voskanian), Airapetian, Özbiliz (85’ Aslanyan-Mamedov)

Coach: Challandes

M.J. Graham

M.J. Graham

Michael Graham is The Armenian Weekly's soccer correspondent. Born and raised in Limerick, Ireland, Graham graduated from the University of Limerick with a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering. Passionate about soccer, Graham plays in and manages local adult soccer leagues in Massachusetts and is a holder of a U.S. Adult Amateur coaching license. Follow him on Twitter (@mjlgraham).

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