SPORT: ALL EYES ON SPAIN AS ARMENIA PREPARES FOR AN ENCOUNTER WITH EUROPE’S BEST
Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow.com
04 July, 2008
Armenia
Football
Armenia will be tested by another reigning champion in the forthcoming
World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign. This became clear after Spain
managed to pull off the European title by beating the mighty Bundes
Team in the Euro-2008 final last weekend.
This will be the third time since Armenia joined international
football that its national team will play in the same qualifying
group with either a reigning European or world champion. The records
show, however, that on all previous occasions Armenians lost to the
reigning champions. In 1996-1997, as part of the qualifying campaign
for the 1998 World Cup, Armenia played against reigning European
champions Germany and in 1998-1999, in qualification for Euro-2000,
Armenia played reigning world champions and future European title
winners France.
The match against Spain in Albacete on September 10 will follow a
tough opener against Turkey in Yerevan, a match that has an equally
off-the-pitch importance for Armenians, who have had troubled relations
with their western neighbor over the past centuries.
Pyunik-Kilikya
While Armenia’s main national team will play its first-ever
competitive game against Turkey, it has already played against
the Spanish team in the past. In two qualifying campaigns Armenia
suffered four defeats with an aggregate score of 0-10. Remarkably,
Spain’s victory in Yerevan four years ago allowed La Furia Roja to
win qualification for Euro-2004, but only just.
Spain is known to have a large following in Armenia and according to
local bookmakers and specialists, many Armenians favored the Spaniards
in their final against Germany last Sunday.
Meanwhile in national league football news, the administration
of Armenia’s longstanding champion Pyunik fired head coach Armen
Gyulbudaghyants this week finding that the champion of the last seven
seasons has been underperforming. A1 Plus reports that assistant
coach Vardan Minasyan, who also helps the national team’s head coach,
will now take charge. Under Minasyan Pyunik already won one of its
overall 10 championship titles in 2004.
Pyunik have been distinguished by their unstable play so far this
season. The team is currently in fourth place after losing its two
last games.
"Very little time remains before the start of the Champions’ League. We
should pull ourselves together and get prepared well for the test
and show as good a play as we can," A1 Plus quoted Minasyan as saying.
FC Pyunik will start their Champions League campaign in the 2008/2009
season against Anortosis (Cyprus). The first match between the teams
is scheduled to be played in Cyprus on July 15 or 16, the second-leg
match will be in Yerevan July 22/23. If Pyunik manage to overcome the
first stage, they will face Rapid Vienna (July 29/30 and August 5/6)
in the second qualifying round.
Ararat and Banants learned their opponents in the first qualifying
round of the UEFA Cup. The Yerevan clubs will play Bellinzona
(Switzerland) and Salzburg (Austria), respectively. The first-leg
matches of these teams are scheduled for July 17 and the return games
for July 31.
(More details of the draw are available on the UEFA’s official website
).
Meanwhile, Armenia has already suffered a loss in a European club
tournament this year.
FC Mika Ashtarak failed to progress to the second round of Intertoto,
a competition for European clubs to win slots in the main UEFA Cup
tournament, as the Armenian club played a goalless draw in Tiraspol,
Moldova. The first-leg match between the two teams in Yerevan had
ended 2-2 making the Moldovan club the winner on aggregate on the
away goals rule.
(Sources: A1 Plus, Football Federation of Armenia; )
Chess
GM Tigran L. Petrosyan will fill the vacancy in the Armenian National
Team after the untimely death of GM Karen Asryan. This was the decision
made by the Armenian Chess Federation.
The Armenian Men’s Team will appear for the Dresden Olympiad 2008
in November with the following composition: GMs Aronyan, Hakobyan,
Sargsyan, Art. Minasyan, T. L. Petrosyan.
The Armenian Women’s Team will be represented by WGMs Danielyan,
Lazarian, Aghinyan, WIMs Galoyan, S. Andriasyan.
According to the latest FIDE rankings (as of July 1), three Armenian
chessmen are among the 100 top players of the world.
Levon Aronyan is in the 12th position with a rating of 2737. Vladimir
Hakobyan (2673) and Gabriel Sargsyan (2660) are in the 45th and 61st
positions, respectively. Vishy Anand from India tops the rankings of
men with a rating of 2798.
Two women grandmasters representing Armenia are among the top women’s
players of FIDE. Elina Danielyan is 16th (2495) and Lilit Lazarian
is 40th (2436). Judith Polgar of Hungary tops the rankings with a
rating of 2711.
In the 137-nation rankings list Armenia is in the 11th position with
an average rating of 2614. Russia is top of the rankings, with Ukraine
and China following in the second and third.