Sport is sport. You can win, you can lose. You can even lose by a large margin. Such things have happened to the most prestigious, star-studded teams. What matters is how it happens, under what circumstances, and in what kind of social atmosphere.
I sense that something is rotten in the atmosphere—something that also seems to affect our national football team.
I cannot assess John van ‘t Schip purely from a football perspective—his tactical schemes, strategies, and approach to the game are subjects for football specialists. However, watching the last two matches, it’s clear that the reasons for defeat go beyond football itself. The players seemed disconnected, frustrated with each other—even resentful.
I believe that proper psychological preparation, team spirit, and an atmosphere of solidarity and mutual support are essential responsibilities of a coach.
Read also
Van ‘t Schip argues that Georgian players compete in “higher-class” clubs than ours and therefore possess superior skills. (Why Armenian players from top clubs are not being called up is a separate question.) Let’s assume he is right.
But we have seen time and again how teams with a theoretically lower “class” have played exceptional football.
In my youth, the Ukrainian teams Zarya and Dnepr—despite lacking the prestige of Dynamo Kyiv or the Moscow clubs—twice won the USSR championship (in 1972 and 1983). The legendary coaches of Ararat Yerevan—Ponomaryov, Glebov, and Simonyan—managed to unite their team into a single, unstoppable force.
In modern times, in 2016, one of Europe’s smallest nations, Iceland, reached the quarterfinals of the European Championship—with a team that had no global megastars.
We don’t need to look far for examples. Do you remember how our national team played under Ian Porterfield and later Vardan Minasyan?
Porterfield, in my view, had the spirit of a true warrior (fighting cancer at the time) and managed to transfer that spirit to the players.
We didn’t qualify for the World Cup or the European Championship back then. But we didn’t feel ashamed of the Armenian national team’s performances, either.
Now? Now, we do.
And what does the President of the Armenian Football Federation say after two humiliating defeats?
“We promise to move forward, regardless of the negative attitude toward football.”
The attitude toward football in Armenia has always been overwhelmingly positive—just like it is for millions across the world.
What people reject is not football—but the football bureaucracy, which is on the path of collapses and failures.
Thank God, he does not say that defeats make our football more “sovereign.”
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
