Vogts: Expectations too high in Azerbaijan
Reuters - Tuesday 07 June 2011, 22:10
BAKU - Azerbaijan coach Berti Vogts,
attacked by three men during a news conference on Sunday, said
that too much was expected of his team following a 3-1 home
defeat by Germany on Tuesday.
"The crowd wanted to see an Azerbaijan win but Germany play
in a different league to us and the fans don't understand that,"
the former Germany coach and player told ARD television.
"It's normal here, the coach is always to blame," he added.
Pressure has been mounting on Vogts since Friday's 2-1
defeat to Kazakhstan left his side with only three points in
Euro 2012 qualifying Group A.
The three men who attacked him on Sunday were not
journalists and were stopped by security guards.
"If you look at the clubs here, the players only train for
one-and-a-half days here. We must work harder," said Vogts, who
said he would see out his contract which runs to the end of the
year before deciding what to do next.
Azerbaijan mustered only five points in 10 games in the
qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup and are a lowly 108th in the
FIFA world rankings.
"The whole sport here needs to be re-structured," said
Vogts, adding there was too much pressure on his players.
"The players must be allowed to make mistakes, otherwise
then cannot progress to another level."
He added: "There are idiots all over the world. You can't
tar the whole country with the same brush because of three
idiots.
"It's a beautiful country and I'm very happy here."