SPORTS
AZERBAIJAN HANDED 1-3 HOME DEFEAT BY POLAND
Azerbaijan national football team suffered a 1-3 home defeat against Poland in Euro 2008 Group A qualifier in Baku on Saturday.
The hosts began the game with a flurry of attacks and took an early lead thanks to Branimir Subasic’s 6th minute goal setting off a rousing celebration among thousands of Azerbaijani fans at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium.
Azerbaijan coach Shahin Diniyev’s hopes of winning a second qualifier in a row after a 1-0 home victory over Finland in March were alive until the 63rd minute when Poland’s Euzebiusz Smolarek levelled the score with a header past goalkeeper Farkhad Valiyev.
Three minutes later Jacek Krzynowek gave Poland a 2-1 lead, and sealed his team’s win with another goal in the 90th minute.
Poland’s victory means that they strengthen their group leading position with five points ahead of Portugal, and that Azerbaijan now top the list of the group’s most defeated teams.
Azerbaijan will next play Kazakhstan on Wednesday, with whom they were held to a 1-1 draw in Baku last September.