THE PIVOTAL MOMENT of Ireland’s 1-0 win against Armenia last night came early in the second half when Tigran Barseghyan got a red card for headbutting Finn Azaz.
Ireland, with a man extra, eventually took the lead on 70 minutes, with an Evan Ferguson header. It was a first win of the World Cup qualifying campaign for Ireland.
The Ireland midfielder said the heatbutt did not hurt but he was not play-acting by going down following the impact.
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“Yeah, obviously we had some back and forth and, kind of, had a physical battle, that was the aim going into the game,” said Azaz after the game.
“It was one of those things, the emotions of the game. I think I won a throw-in, and we just exchanged words, and then he’s just come in with a headbutt.”
Azaz said this was the first time he has been headbutted on a pitch “but it didn’t hurt so it was alright”.
He added: “It’s something that is part of football, and managing those games is I think a maturity, and something that I think I can definitely do better in, managing games, and how to win games. It was a tough game, it changed the game so the main thing is we got the win.
“I felt the contact. I think the adrenaline is why it didn’t hurt. Maybe in a hour my head is going to be throbbing. It’s not throbbing now. But I mean I felt it was a proper headbutt. I wasn’t playacting. You could probably see it on the video that I’m not pretending to get headbutted. Otherwise it would have got looked at and he wouldn’t have got sent off.”
Ireland must and can win their final two games, against Portugal at home and away to Hungary next month, to stay in the hunt for World Cup qualification, Azaz believes.
“Exactly, we’ll be looking at those two and feeling we can definitely do that,” he said. “You know, got to take confidence and we know what we have to do now.
“Obviously we got three points and last month (the last international window) we got one, so we’re still fighting and that’s what we wanted obviously we know the disappointment from last month, we bounced back, we put in a brilliant performance last week and were really unlucky, but we beat Armenia, so it’s very positive.”
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'It was a proper headbutt. I wasn’t playacting' - Finn Azaz
THE PIVOTAL MOMENT of Ireland’s 1-0 win against Armenia last night came early in the second half when Tigran Barseghyan got a red card for headbutting Finn Azaz.
Ireland, with a man extra, eventually took the lead on 70 minutes, with an Evan Ferguson header. It was a first win of the World Cup qualifying campaign for Ireland.
The Ireland midfielder said the heatbutt did not hurt but he was not play-acting by going down following the impact.
“Yeah, obviously we had some back and forth and, kind of, had a physical battle, that was the aim going into the game,” said Azaz after the game.
“It was one of those things, the emotions of the game. I think I won a throw-in, and we just exchanged words, and then he’s just come in with a headbutt.”
Azaz said this was the first time he has been headbutted on a pitch “but it didn’t hurt so it was alright”.
He added: “It’s something that is part of football, and managing those games is I think a maturity, and something that I think I can definitely do better in, managing games, and how to win games. It was a tough game, it changed the game so the main thing is we got the win.
“I felt the contact. I think the adrenaline is why it didn’t hurt. Maybe in a hour my head is going to be throbbing. It’s not throbbing now. But I mean I felt it was a proper headbutt. I wasn’t playacting. You could probably see it on the video that I’m not pretending to get headbutted. Otherwise it would have got looked at and he wouldn’t have got sent off.”
Ireland must and can win their final two games, against Portugal at home and away to Hungary next month, to stay in the hunt for World Cup qualification, Azaz believes.
“Exactly, we’ll be looking at those two and feeling we can definitely do that,” he said. “You know, got to take confidence and we know what we have to do now.
“Obviously we got three points and last month (the last international window) we got one, so we’re still fighting and that’s what we wanted obviously we know the disappointment from last month, we bounced back, we put in a brilliant performance last week and were really unlucky, but we beat Armenia, so it’s very positive.”
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