"Yes, brother, don't say that."

- It seems that people have no interest in football. Coronavirus, war, living standards ...

This is a small part of our discussion with colleagues. Of course, I do not agree. For me, the fact that the coronavirus has become an integral part of today, on the contrary, should increase the love for football. Cafes and restaurants are closed, there is no place to go, you are addicted to the phone and TV.

Even if you are single, you should watch football, read the news and be interested. The war continued. What happened before that? What is happening today? Why is the love of football, not the same as before?

The taste of our mouths has not changed, it is the taste of football that has changed. The romance is gone, the appetite is gone, the names do not shine. Aside from the previous names themselves, the shadows are not visible in the square.

Supposedly there was football in Azerbaijan 15-20 years ago? There were rough pitches, broken seats, and footballers. But we loved football, we went to the stadium and watched, even on foot. In fact, we did not go, the competition on the field and in the championship took us by the hand. Let's go and see what "Kapaz" and "Turan" will do in "Western derby". What will happen in the match between Khazar Lankaran and Neftchi? Which referee will be "played" in Tovuz again? "

Years passed, football was completely cleansed, everything was artificial, as a result, one of the kicks to Azerbaijani football in the late 90s in Tovuz, which hit Leonid Kalfa on the stretcher, was so bad that the country's football died.

At that time, Galatasaray was there. Turkish national team, Hakan Shukur, Umit Davala, George Haji, Emre Belozoglu, Tugay Karimoglu, Tuncay Sanli. When we heard the name of football, they also came to life before our eyes. They were entering our dreams. We would not sleep for days, we would wait for the day, not the start time of the games.

Who threw, Hakan threw, but also backgammon, "Elland Road Stadium" - these words used by the commentator in a trembling voice made our hair stand on end. We would put the ball between Ilhan Mansız's legs and repeat the trick that Roberto Carlos passed over his head, it would not be taken. Before and after the Galatasaray-Fenerbahce games, Istanbul was shaking there, our hearts are here. 2002, when the Turkish national team won a bronze medal at the World Cup. That's beautiful, isn't it? In those years, the names of the miraculous Ronaldo, "artist" Rivaldo, unusual Ronaldinho, "crazy" Dunga, "robot" Cafu ...

Do you remember Romantsev's "Spartak"? Famous team with Filimonov, Tikhonov, Titov, Tsimbalar, Shirko, Gorlukovich. When a man saw that form with a red space and a white space in the middle, it was as if he saw his birth. We were looking forward to whether Nazim Suleymanov and Vali Gasimov, and especially Dmitry Kramarenko, would appear in the Russian elite. Karpin, Mostovoy, Onopko, Beschastnykh, who lived the life of a legionnaire ...

What about Raúl Morientes at Real? York and Cole at Manchester United, with Sheringham and Sulsher. Salas Zamorano at Inter. We have not forgotten the days when Chelsea became stronger with world stars after the transfer to Roman Abramovich. This means that Andrei Shevchenko's goals at AC Milan and Sergei Rebrov's goals at Tottenham also pass before your eyes like a movie.

All of the above is over. There were 3-5 of them, Totti, Gattuso, Maldini, Figo ... They also said goodbye to the green fields. Our only consolation for the last 5-10 years was Ronaldo and Messi, who revived the football romance inside us, and they fell apart. There is no taste of the Spanish championship, no El Clásico, no rivalry between the two stars. Sooner or later, they too will be gone. What will we do?

Everything is artificial, robotized. Feelings disappear in football. It used to look natural, now it's handmade. Turkey's Hakan, Russia's Mostovoy, the Netherlands' Bergkamp, ​​Germany's Klinsmann are no more. They took us away from football. They left on their own, they did not allow the love of football inside us to remain.

Their place is so empty that Ibrahimovic "learns" at the age of 39, 42-year-old Buffon is needed, Emre says goodbye to football at the age of 39, Rashad Sadigov plays football until the age of 38, Ronaldo and Messi will run after the ball for another 5 years.

People are interested in money, fun, and showing on Instagram. They change clubs almost every day. Football itself has become monotonous. The speed has increased, but all teams play the same football more or less. The eyes get tired when you look at it.

Woe to those days.

HABIB