[kompressaur]

Neftchi v FH Hafnarfjordur

You guys do not give enough credit for Azerbaijan's football. It has old and good traditions. I remember in Soviet times the away games in Baku were one of the toughest in the schedule for other teams. The Azeri football went through a hard period after the breakup of the Soviet Union but I see things are improving there. First and the most important thing is they have money (oil...) and huge support of the local authorities. Lithuanian basketball player Rimas Kurtinaitis worked there for two or three years and said the support for sports in that country is amazing. Neftchi has money and when you have money, you can have good players.
Now I would like to speak my opinion about the Icelandic chamionship. Yes, Hafnarfjordur leads the local championship and many of you speak about its great form. But hold your horses, Hafnar is playing against poor amateur teams! Let's look at last year's UEFA Cup qualification. In the first round Hafnar barely scraped past the Welsh postmen and firefighters Haverfordwest County 1:0 on aggregate. Yes, they managed to eliminate Dunfermline in the secound round, but it was mainly due to poor state of Dunfermline at that point (Scotish championship still not started, while Icelandic in full swing). Moreover, Dunfermline was poor all season as well. Then they met Aachen and were beaten 5-1 at home. Hafnar held on for 0-0 in Germany but this match and its result were rather strange to say the least.
Now let's take a look at the result of KR Reykjavik in last year's first round of CL qualification - 2:2 at home with Shelbourne and 0:0 away in Ireland - out. In 2003 Reykjavik was eliminated in the first round by Pyunik. In 2002 another Icelandic team Akranes went out in the first round with two losses against Zeljeznicar. In 2001 the Albanian Vllaznia Shkoder eliminated the same KR Reykjavik in the first round as well.
To sum up everything, I thing the Icelandic championship is not good at all. If FH is a monster at home, it does not mean they will be that in Europe. I see no chances for the Icelandic team against Neftchi in Azerbaijan. Everything speaks for home win in my opinion. I read that Neftchi will bring new strong players before the match. Players of Neftchi live together in a hotel before the match, no interviews are allowed and everyone is focused on the win. All in all, I would say 8/10 confidence on 1.

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