Precocious Pyunik schooled for success
Tuesday 18 March 2008by Khachik Chakhoyan from Yerevan
The Armenian league season will not kick-off until
April.FC Pyunik are sure their academy graduates can
come up trumps again as the new Armenian season starts
this week with the first cup fixtures of 2008.
Cup taster
While the league campaign will not kick-off until
April, the eight top-division teams start their
seasons on Friday and Saturday with the opening
matches of their two-leg first round games, and while
they have lost a substantial proportion of their best
players since lifting their seventh successive league
title in 2007, Yerevan titans Pyunik are limbering up
for more success. The club have continued their policy
of blooding youngsters by introducing a new generation
to the first team. Coach Armen Gyulbudagyants said:
"It’s a big chance for our youngsters. The majority of
our guys represent the Armenian national team at
different levels. They have experience of playing in
very important games so we will battle for a top place
in the league."
Petrosyan plan
Former Pyunik coach Samvel Petrosyan, meanwhile, is
focused solely on the cup at the moment, having led FC
Gandzasar to an encouraging fifth-placed finish last
term. Four more signings have raised their Georgian
contingent to six while they will continue to rely on
Brazilian Leandro Santos up front and Romanians Virgil
Marºavela and Constantin Paunescu may also stay in
Kapan. "We haven’t announced our goals for the
season," said the former Armenia Under-17 coach. "We
are only thinking about the cup at the moment. We are
formidible at home, so we will battle for a place in
the UEFA Cup as there is always a chance in two-leg
cup ties. The club board has made major investments in
the team and it is payback time for us."
MIKA ambition
Five-time cup winners FC MIKA are also ambitious, with
coach Arkadiy Andreasyan hungry for a first league
title and perhaps another cup for the Ashtarak side.
"MIKA always have high goals," said Andreasyan. "The
coming season is no exception. We are ready to fight
for the title and want to play in the cup final. We
are creating a new team here but our goals remain the
same." Having re-appointed Varuzhan Sukiasyan as their
coach just two weeks ago, FC Ararat Yerevan will be
lucky to create a workable team in time to compete for
silverware. "It’s going to be extremely difficult to
compete against leading clubs, but we won’t give up,"
sighed Sukiasyan. "We have lost experienced players
and haven’t signed any replacements."
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