The head coach of the Azerbaijani national team, Fernando Santos, appeared before journalists.

Offsideplus.az reports that the Portuguese specialist first congratulated Qarabag on qualifying for the Champions League group stage:

"First of all, I want to congratulate Qarabag. They qualified for the main stage of the Champions League. I think this is a very important result for Qarabag. I want to congratulate all of Qarabag, especially Gurban Gurbanov. Of course, this success is a great achievement for Azerbaijan. Everyone in Europe will be talking about Qarabag and Azerbaijan for a while."

He assessed the upcoming matches against Iceland and Ukraine within the framework of the 2026 World Cup qualifying round:

"It is an important question. We do not expect easy games. Iceland has been playing with the same players for a long time. Almost all of the players play abroad. They are experienced, high-quality players. They are a team that is very good at setting up attacks from behind. When they are without the ball, they act aggressively on the field, trying to win the ball back. Together with my assistants, I have analyzed the opponent, we have analyzed what style of play they have. We have identified the opponent's strengths, but at the same time we know their weaknesses. We will prepare our team well for this game. The opponent plays with a "4-2-3-1" scheme, they switch to "4-3-3" in attack. We have analyzed their game dynamics. They are an intense team, but nevertheless, they are a good opponent.

As for Ukraine, it is a strong team, a rival. One of these two games is an away game. It is a long trip, we decided to go there quickly and settle in. This can also affect the players. There is a 4-hour time difference between us. There are general notes that after this long trip the player will recover. That is why we decided to fly faster. Then we will have a home game. We trust that the fans will support us. I can say from the recent friendly matches and the national team's training sessions that they are willing. We can achieve the result we want. The players were willing in the recent training sessions, I hope that the same rhythm will continue. I, the players and the entire Azerbaijani people are waiting for victory".

The 70-year-old specialist commented on the decision to abolish the legionnaire limit:

"That issue does not concern me. I am just the head coach and I do my job. The rest is decided by the people in charge. We cannot compare one country with another. In Portugal, there is no legionnaire limit, 11 foreign players can play. "There are many local players who play abroad."

The Portuguese coach commented on the fact that Badavi Huseynov and Mehdi Jannatov were not invited to the national team:

"That issue has nothing to do with me. I'm just a head coach and I do my job. The rest is decided by the people in charge. We can't compare one country with another. Portugal doesn't have a legionnaire limit, 11 foreign players can play. They have many local players who play abroad."

The Portuguese coach commented on the failure of Bedavi Huseynov and Mehdi Jannatov to be invited to the national team:

"I like Bedavi very much, I have great respect for him. However, he didn't get an invitation to the camp because he didn't play. But this is not the end. We have invited players who will help the national team. Of course, a player who doesn't compete can worry me. As a head coach, I want all the players to have game experience. I want to continue and work with this scenario. We will try to play with this material that we have. We shouldn't think that he plays too much or too little. We do analysis, we watch the games. Mehdi Jannatov had problems with his passport. It was precisely because of passport problems that he couldn't get an invitation."

F. Santos assessed Qarabag's opponents in the Champions League:

"It won't be easy, of course. Obviously, difficult opponents will play against Qarabag. The team will come out there with dignity and will do their best. I can't comment on the score."