16.11.2010

Rookie Rabita BAKU has set high goals for Champions League premiere

Baku, Azerbaijan, November 16, 2010. Last year’s CEV Cup bronze medalist and Azerbaijani champion Rabita Baku will make its debut in the 2011 CEV Champions League in about ten days. The Azerbaijani champions were assigned to Pool E after the Drawing of Lots held this past June in Vienna, together with Italian national champion Scavolini PESARO, Poland’s Aluprof BIELSKO-BIALA and another rookie of the league, i.e. Dinamo Romprest BUCHAREST of Romania.
At the press conference organized yesterday by Rabita in Baku, the officials of the team shared their thoughts and talked about the plans and goals of the team for the next European season which will start with the match against the Romanians next November 24 in Bucharest.
The club’s Organization Director Nasimi Musayev said: “Rabita always puts the highest goals in front of the team and does its best to achieve the wished results. This year our team will make its debut in the best European club competition, the CEV Champions league. Everyone knows that there are no weak opponents in this tournament, so we respect any of our competitors. The favorite of our group of course are the Italians of Scavolini PESARO. All remaining three teams will fight for the second place. The first aim is to qualify to the Playoffs, and then we will see. We know it will be very hard, but I think we are on the right way”.
Serbian head coach Dejan Brdjovic commented: “Some of our players played in the World Championship and will join the team in the next few days. We have many high-level and ambitious players, but we need time to have good connection between the players and to show real team game. We embarked on a long and very hard marathon, both in the local and European arena we will face very strong opponents. Our first game will be in Romania, against a serious team. I hope we will be satisfied with the result at the end.”
The assistant coach Eldar Yusubov added: “All the teams in our group as in the other groups are very strong. Scavolini PESARO and Aluprof BIELSKO-BIALA are the champions of their countries and have many high-level players in their squads. Dinamo Romprest BUCHAREST is the runner-up of the last Romanian championship. It means that there will not be easy matches for us. We are ready for that”.
The captain of the team, three-time Best Scorer of the CEV Champions League, Natalya Mammadova, also answered to the questions of the journalists: “As you know only one player cannot take the team to the wished aims. I know my fans are waiting for the “Best Scorer” title once again from me, but Volleyball is a team game, and I will do my best to be useful for my team. We will face quite strong teams with different international stars, but I think we will be ready to show our real potential”.