Azeri national team coach Qurban Qurbanov summoned 24 players for the upcoming friendlies against Macedonia and Belarus.

photo by report.az: the Azeri team in September 2017

Azerbaijan will first welcome Belarus on the 23rd in Baku, but than will head to Belek in Turkey where Macedonia will be stationed.

Of the 24 players, 5 are debutants (Əzizli, R. Məmmədov, Axundov, Rəhimov and A. Məmmədov). Three of them are defenders and if we add the fact that other two defenders like Yunuszadə and Abbasov have only 3 and 2 caps, definitelt the biggest flaw in the Azeri squad will be the back line.

Experienced midfielders Rahid Əmirquliyev, Cavid Hüseynov and Əfran İsmayılov as well as central defender Bədavi Hüseynov got left out.

The squad is compiled of mostly domestic based players featuring only 3 internationals.

Kamran Ağayev – Keşlə
Səlahət Ağayev – Neftçi
Rəşad Əzizli – Neftçi 

Ruslan Abışov – Neftçi
Maksim Medvedev – Qarabağ
Pavel Paşayev – Oleksandriya
Elvin Yunuszadə – Qarabağ
Ürfan Abbasov – Qəbələ
Rahib Məmmədov – Səbail
Tural Axundov – Sumqayıt
Şəhriyar Rəhimov – Kəpəz 

Qara Qarayev – Qarabağ
Araz Abdullayev – Anorthosis
Namik Ələskərov – Neftçi
Richard Almeida de Oliveira – Qarabağ
Rəhman Hacıyev – Neftçi
Coşqun Diniyev – Qarabağ
Emin Mahmudov – Neftçi
Cavid İmamverdiyev – Sumqayıt
Rəşad Eyyubov – Sumqayıt
Asif Məmmədov – Qəbələ 

Dmitri Nazarov – Erzgebirge Aue
Ruslan Qurbanov – Qəbələ
Amil Yunanov – Sumqayıt 

Azerbaijan will match Macedonia on the 27th this month. The last encounter between the two was played two years ago in Austria and ended with a 3:1 win for Macedonia.