SOCCER: ARMENIA EYE FIRST HOME VICTORY IN ONGOING WC QUALIFYING AHEAD OF BULGARIA MATCH

Soccer | 08.10.13 | 11:50

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Armenia is full of resolve to score their first home victory in
the current FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign in the game against
Bulgaria on Friday, the national team’s playmaker Henrikh Mkhitaryan
told media on Monday.

In the eight games during the current campaign Armenia scored three
victories and all were in away games (against Malta, Denmark and the
Czech Republic).

The October 11 match against Bulgaria will be the last home game and
penultimate qualifier for Armenia during the 2012-13 season that ends
with an away match against Italy on October 15.

Armenia only theoretically has chances to finish in the runner-up’s
spot in the six-member group that may give it the chance to vie for
a spot in the 2014 Mundial in Brazil through playoffs.

“We should do everything to win in this game [against Bulgaria]. We
all know that these two games are very important games for us and
that’s why we approach them very seriously and will do everything to
score maximal points,” Mkhitaryan told media.

The 24-year-old Borussia Dortmund star said that the incidents that
happened on and off the pitch in the first match against Bulgaria in
Sofia last autumn now remain “history”.

A big brawl between Armenian and Bulgarian players marred the overall
‘rough’ qualifier in which Armenian striker Gevorg Ghazaryan was
eventually sent off the pitch for obviously succumbing to a provocation
from a local ball boy. Armenia lost 0-1.

“You cannot change anything… It is now important for us to be able
to prepare well and perform well in this game,” Mkhitaryan said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress