Hundreds of people poured into Yerevan’s main Republic Square on Tuesday night to celebrate yet another impressive victory of Armenia’s national soccer team that gave it a real chance of qualifying for the 2012 European Football Championship.
Armenia crushed Slovakia 4-0 in the Slovak city of Zilina to earn its fourth victory in eight matches played in Group B of Euro 2012 qualifying over the past year. It was also the team’s most convincing and important away win to date.
Vartan Minasian, the team’s 37-year-old coach, hailed the “fantastic” performance of his players, mostly aged under 24, against a nominally stronger side that did well in last year’s World Cup. “I am very proud of my team,” Minasian said at a news conference.
The shock win moved up the Armenians to third place in the group standings with 14 points, three behind leaders Russia, who drew 0-0 with Ireland in Moscow earlier on Tuesday. Ireland, which is second on 15 points, will host Armenia in Dublin on October 11 for the final and possibly decisive game of the qualifying campaign.
Slovakia - Slovakias Filip Holosko (R) vies with Armenias Hrayr Mkoyan during their Euro 2012 qualifying football match between Slovakia and Armenia in Zilina, 06Sep2011
Armenia already beat Slovakia 3-1 in Yerevan last October, an unexpected result that marked the beginning of its best-ever performance in Euro and World Cup qualifiers.
The victory sparked jubilant overnight scenes in the capital, with hundreds of fans converging on Republic Square to wave national flags, chant “Armenia!” and dance. Scores of cars honking their horns circled the sprawling square in the meantime.
“We believe that the team will win qualification,” said one young fan waving an Armenian flag.
The ecstatic crowd was reportedly joined and praised by Ruben Hayrapetian, chairman of the Armenian Football Federation, in the early hours of Wednesday.
“This impressive victory wasn’t sensational but the score was,” Slava Sargsian, a veteran football commentator, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
“It was a fantastic game,” agreed Senik Karapoghosian, another commentator. “In my view, the second half [of the Slovakia game] was the best 45 minutes of play in the [post-Soviet] history of Armenian football.”
The success will further heighten expectations from the national team ahead of its last two qualifiers. Armenia will play Macedonia in Yerevan on October 7.
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Երեւանում տոնում են Հայաստանի հավաքականի հաղթանակը