===================== All copyrighted material here is by Nando Net, Reuters and Associated Press and Adil T. Baguirov. All rights reserved. Visit for more information. ===================== Azerbaijan beat Switzerland in World Cup qualifier (c) 1996 Copyright Nando.net (c) 1996 Reuter Information Service BAKU (Aug 31, 1996 - 14:41 EST) - Azerbaijan beat Switzerland 1-0 (halftime 1-0) in their World Cup soccer European group three qualifying match on Saturday. Scorer: Vidadi Rzayev (28th) Attendance: 20,000 ===== P W D L Goals Pts. Azerbaijan 2 1 0 1 1:5 3 ===== RESULTS GROUP 3: (NOR-SUI-FIN-HUN-AZE) 02.06.96 Oslo 20:00 Norway vs. Azerbaijan 5:0 (2:0) SNODDY (NIR) 31.08.96 Baku Azerbaijan vs. Switzerland 1:0 ( : ) WOJCIK (POL) 01.09.96 Budapest 18:30 Hungary vs. Finland 1:0 ( : ) STRAMPE (GER) 06.10.96 Helsinki 19:00 Finland vs. Switzerland 09.10.96 Oslo 20:00 Norway vs. Hungary 10.11.96 Switzerland vs. Norway 10.11.96 Azerbaijan vs. Hungary 02.04.97 Azerbaijan vs. Finland 30.04.97 Norway vs. Finland 30.04.97 Switzerland vs. Hungary 08.06.97 Finland vs. Azerbaijan 08.06.97 Hungary vs. Norway 20.08.97 Finland vs. Norway 20.08.97 Hungary vs. Switzerland 06.09.97 Switzerland vs. Finland 06.09.97 Azerbaijan vs. Norway 10.09.97 Hungary vs. Azerbaijan 10.09.97 Norway vs. Switzerland 11.10.97 Finland vs. Hungary 11.10.97 Switzerland vs. Azerbaijan ======== WORLD CUP ROUNDUP: Azerbaijan upsets Switzerland (c) 1996 Copyright Nando.net (c) 1996 Associated Press LONDON (Aug 31, 1996 - 17:05 EST) -- Azerbaijan upset Switzerland 1-0, Ireland and Wales began their bids to reach the 1998 World Cup with high-scoring victories and Portugal and Armenia played a scoreless tie Saturday. Wales beat San Marino 6-0 and the Irish defeated Liechtenstein 5-0. Vidadi Rzayev scored Azerbaijan's goal against a Swiss team playing under new coach Rolf Fringer in a Group 3 game. ========= Also, back at home, this summer I went to all three matches of the home teams played in Baku at "Respublikasi Stadionu" Neftchi - Lokomotiv (Sophia, BUL) 2:1 (the last scorer for Neftchi, Vidadi Rzayev is a hero -- he did the same with Switzerland!!!) Hazri - Gutnik (Poland) 2:2 Karabakh - MuPa47 (Finland) 0:1 (88 min!!! :( ) (Not to upset you, I won't tell you the scores away from home -- still need some improvement.) Football (Soccer) in Azerbaijan is in crisis -- no money (nothing new), no sponsors (guess why?), no good players (the old Soviet school) and "internal dirt" -- the scandal around the President of Azerbaijan Federation of Football Association (AFFA), Fuad Musayev and his early resignation, not permitted by the majority of the votes. But not everything is bad -- the best player of Russia in '96, the captain of the Number #1 Team, the Vladikavkaz's "Alania," Nazim Suleymanov (no relation with Elin) is also in the All-Star Team for the World Cup '98. Cheer up guys, I hope this info will make you feel better and almost as at home! A BBBB CCC Adil Baguirov A A B B C University of Southern California AAAAA BBBB C A A B B C baguirov@scf.usc.edu A A BBBB CCC http://www-scf.usc.edu/~baguirov/