Yerevan celebrates Poland upset
Thursday 7 June 2007
by Khachik Chakhoyan
from Yerevan

Armenia’s prime minister danced with joy after
watching the 1-0 win against Poland while coach Ian
Porterfield hailed his side’s "iron fist".

Victory dance
Hamlet Mkhitaryan’s second-half free-kick earned
Armenia a second successive qualifying win and struck
the Group A leaders a major blow as they look to reach
UEFA EURO 2008′. Prime minister Serzh Sargsyan caught
the mood of the moment in the VIP area at the
Republican Stadium last night, performing a dance of
joy at the final whistle before heading for the
dressing room to congratulate the players.

‘Winning mentality’
"Our lads finally showed what we expected of them
which is willpower, character and a desire for
victory," said Football Federation of Armenia
vice-president Ashot Manukyan. "Despite missing a
number of players Ian Porterfield managed to find
appropriate replacements and instilled a winning
mentality in the team in a short period of time. Now
we hope that football will blossom in Armenia."

Battling underdogs
Scottish coach Porterfield was thrilled with his
side’s performance. The 61-year-old former Chelsea FC
manager said: "We played like a united squad, like an
iron fist against Poland. That is why we achieved what
we wanted so much. Poland have a much stronger squad
but our commitment helped Armenia to achieve the best
possible result in this game."

Armenian heroes
He gave special praise to goalscorer Mkhitaryan while
goalkeeper Gevorg Kasparov, who made a string of vital
saves to deny Leo Beenhakker’s Poland, also emerged as
a hero. "I am especially grateful to Hamlet Mkhitaryan
and Gevorg Kasparov," he said. "Mkhitaryan was
unstoppable and proved to be the real leader of the
moment while Kasparov was flawless in goal."

Everyone’s celebration
Mkhitaryan, meanwhile, was eager to share his moment
of glory with his team-mates as they celebrated after
the final whistle, even if their seven points from
seven matches is not form that will ultimately take
them to the finals. He said: "We need wins like this
to believe in ourselves, to take confidence into other
matches. I’m very happy I scored the winner but this
victory belongs to us all – my team-mates and our fans
who were behind us for the whole 90 minutes."

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