Armenia national football team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Armenia women's national football team.
Armenia
Nickname(s) Հավաքական Havakakan (Collective team)
Association Football Federation of Armenia
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Artur Petrosyan
Captain Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Most caps Sargis Hovsepyan (132)[1]
Top scorer Henrikh Mkhitaryan (19)
Home stadium Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium[2]
FIFA code ARM
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 87 Increase 38 (24 November 2016)
Highest 30 (February 2014)
Lowest 159 (July 1994)
Elo ranking
Current 81 (9 September 2015)
Highest 65 (27 May 2014)
Lowest 126 (May 1995)
First international
 Armenia 0–0 Moldova 
(Yerevan, Armenia; October 14, 1992)
Biggest win
 Armenia 7–1 Guatemala 
(Los Angeles, California, USA; May 28, 2016)
Biggest defeat
 Chile 7–0 Armenia 
(Viña del Mar, Chile; January 4, 1997)
 Georgia 7–0 Armenia 
(Tbilisi, Georgia; March 30, 1997)

The Armenia national football team (Armenian: Հայաստանի ֆուտբոլի ազգային հավաքական, Hayastani futboli azgayin havak'akan) represents Armenia in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation of Armenia, the governing body for football in Armenia. After gaining independence from the Soviet Union, the team played its first international match on October 12, 1992. Armenia's home ground is the Republican Stadium in Yerevan and their head coach is Varuzhan Sukiasyan. The national team has participated in the qualification of every major tournament from the UEFA Euro 1996 onwards, though they are yet to qualify for the knockout stage in either a UEFA European Football Championship or a FIFA World Cup.[3] In what was the Armenian national squad's greatest success at present, the team came in third place in the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying stage, with controversial officiating preventing them from achieving second place, and hence moving on to the final tournament.[4]

History

Armenia became an independent state in 1991, the Armenian SSR having previously played for the Soviet Union national football team. The Football Federation of Armenia was founded on 18 January 1992 and established relations with FIFA in 1992 and with UEFA in 1993.[5] The history of the Armenia national team began on 14 October 1992, when Armenia played its first match against Moldova. That meeting ended in a goalless draw. Since 1996, the team is a member of qualifiers European and World Championships.[6] Armenia has competed in every UEFA Euro qualification and FIFA World Cup qualification since 1994.[7]

The first head coach of the Armenian national squad was Soviet Armenian football star Eduard Markarov. Armenian winner of the UEFA Jubilee Awards and fellow Soviet Armenian football great Khoren Hovhannisyan also became a head coach. Many of the early coaches of the national team never stayed for longer than two years. Scottish coach Ian Porterfield became head coach in 2006 and began to lead the team to some of its first successes in the international stage. Under his leadership, the Armenian team had played a series of great matches with victories over Kazakhstan 2–1, Poland 1–0 and Portugal 1–1, with Cristiano Ronaldo in the lineup. But then tragedy struck; the 62-year-old Porterfield died of cancer, leaving his started work unfinished. An acting assistant coach, Vardan Minasyan, became acting head coach following Porterfield's death. Minasyan learned much from Porterfield and Samvel Darbinyan, another former head coach of Armenia, during this time about coaching and managing.[8] On February 10, 2009, after the draw for the qualifying round teams of the UEFA Euro 2012, by order of the President of the Football Federation of Armenia Ruben Hayrapetyan, Minasyan will continue to lead the Armenian national squad, only now as the official head coach.[9][10][11]

In the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying matches, Minasyan led Armenia in Group B against Russia, Slovakia, Ireland, Macedonia and Andorra. Armenia, considered a heavy underdog, defeated the group favorite Slovakia with two crushing defeats 4–0 and 3–1, defeated Andorra in two matches as well 4–0 and 3–0, drew with Macedonia 2–2 and defeated them in the deciding match 4–1 and tied with the group winners Russia 0–0. The Armenian team scored the most goals out of Group B, with a total of 22. Henrikh Mkhitaryan of Armenia scored 6 goals, the most goals scored by a single player in Group B.[12][13] The national team almost made the final draw, but controversially lost in a decisive match against Ireland 1–2. Armenian goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was given a red card by Spanish referee Eduardo Gonzalez at the 26th-minute for supposedly touching the ball outside the goal area. However, replays clearly showed the ball touched his chest and never touched his hands. Replays also showed that Ireland striker Simon Cox had actually touched the ball with his right hand.[14] Despite this, Gonzalez did not penalize Cox. Cox would later admit he touched the ball with his hand.[15] Had Cox’s offence been punished, Armenia would have been awarded a free-kick.[4] Berezovsky was substituted with 19-year-old debuting Arsen Petrosyan. Valeri Aleksanyan later accidentally scored an own goal on Petrosyan, which ended up deciding the match. Armenia and Ireland would each score another goal. The Football Federation of Armenia unsuccessfully filed protest over the match.[14][16] Gonzalez had later resigned after the match.[17] Despite not getting to play in the UEFA Euro 2012, Minasyan brought the Armenian national team to a record #41 FIFA ranking, placed the team in a personal best third place in the group stage and went on to become the longest leading head coach of the Armenian football team. Minasyan stated he is proud of the entire team.[18][19] They were all welcomed in the airport back in Armenia as heroes.[20]

Stadium

Armenia vs Portugal during a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium in Yerevan

Hrazdan Stadium was built from 1969 to 1970 on Athens St., Kentron in a period of 18 months with the financial support of the oil magnate Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. A total amount of 5 million rubles was allocated for Hrazdan.[21] The stadium was named after the slope of the Hrazdan River. It is the largest stadium in Armenia, with more than 70,000 seats. The opening of the stadium took place on 29 November 1970.[21] The Armenia national team played home matches in Hrazdan until 2000. Several Armenian football clubs also played in Hrazdan. In Soviet times, it was one of the largest stadiums in the Soviet Union (among the top four) and one of the few double-tiered stadiums. Hrazdan was the football ground stadium for Ararat Yerevan. Hrazdan Stadium hosted its first official football match on May 19, 1971 when Ararat Yerevan defeated Kairat Almaty 3–0 in front of a record 78,000 spectators.[22] The stadium would host Ararat Yerevan for the final victory of the club in the 1973 Soviet Top League and in the 1973 and 1975 Soviet Cup. The Soviet Union national football team played only two matches at the stadium, both of which date back to 1978. In April of that year, in a friendly game against Finland, the USSR won 10–2. Six months later, in a qualifying match for the UEFA Euro 1980 against Greece the Soviet team won again 2–0. The match with Finland hosted 12,000 spectators and the match with Greece hosted 40,000.[5] The capacity of the stadium decreased from 70,000 to an all-seater of 53,849 spectators. By the second half of 2012, Hrazdan was completely renovated to become the regular venue of the national team's home matches.

The Republican Stadium was renovated in 1999 and, since 2000, has been the home ground for Armenia. The stadium was built in 1953 and finished within a year's time.[23] Republican Stadium has a capacity of 14,968. During the Soviet period and onward from 1953 to 1999, it was known as Dinamo Stadium. The stadium had its official name changed to "Republican Stadium named after Vazgen Sargsyan" in 1999, after Armenian war hero and former Prime Minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan, who died that year. Local clubs Pyunik Yerevan and Ulisses Yerevan play home games in the Republican Stadium. In 2008, the stadium went under a large-scale development in order to modernize the playing surface and to create a high level VIP section and other facilities which met UEFA standards.[5]

Armenia played a match in Hrazdan in 2008 against Turkey after partial renovation earlier that year. The number of seats decreased from 75,000 to 53,849.[24] It is planned to hold Armenia's home matches after a complete renovation in 2012. On 12 October 2012, Armenia played a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Italy, but has not used Hrazdan since. Hrazdan is used mostly for Armenian football clubs and a number of other athletic competitions.[5]

Competitive record

FIFA World Cup records

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA Position
1930 to 1990 Part of  Soviet Union-------
United States 1994 Did not enter-------
France 1998 Did Not Qualify 101548174/6
South Korea Japan 2002 100557196/6
Germany 2006 122199256/7
South Africa 2010 101186226/6
Brazil 2014 1041512135/6
Russia 2018 To Be Determined1001016/6
Qatar 2022 -------
Total 0/20 - 52 8 13 31 42 96 -

UEFA European Championship records

UEFA European Championship record UEFA Euro Championship Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA Position
1960 to 1992 Part of  Soviet Union-------
England 1996 Did not qualify 10 1 2 7 5 17 6/6
Belgium Netherlands 2000 10 2 2 6 8 15 5/6
Portugal 2004 8 2 1 5 7 16 4/5
Austria Switzerland 2008 12 2 3 7 4 13 7/8
Poland Ukraine 2012 10 5 2 3 22 10 3/6
France 2016 8 0 2 6 5 14 5/5
Total 0/15 58 12 12 34 51 85 -

Recent results and forthcoming fixtures

2016

2017

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Montenegro on 11 November 2016.
Caps and goals correct as of November 11, 2016 after the match against Montenegro.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Arsen Beglaryan (1993-02-18) 18 February 1993 8 0 Armenia Alashkert
1GK Grigor Meliksetyan (1986-08-18) 18 August 1986 1 0 Armenia Gandzasar Kapan
1GK Anatoly Ayvazov (1996-06-08) 8 June 1996 0 0 Armenia Shirak
2DF Hrayr Mkoyan (1986-09-02) 2 September 1986 41 1 Iran Esteghlal Tehran
2DF Levon Hayrapetyan (1989-04-17) 17 April 1989 37 1 Iran Paykan
2DF Kamo Hovhannisyan (1992-10-05) 5 October 1992 29 0 Armenia Pyunik
2DF Varazdat Haroyan (1992-08-24) 24 August 1992 24 1 Iran Padideh
2DF Artak Yedigaryan (1990-03-18) 18 March 1990 21 0 Armenia Alashkert
2DF Taron Voskanyan (1993-02-22) 22 February 1993 17 0 Cyprus Karmiotissa
2DF Artur Kartashyan (1997-01-08) 8 January 1997 0 0 Armenia Pyunik
2DF Serob Grigoryan (1995-02-04) 4 February 1995 0 0 Armenia Pyunik
3MF Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Captain) (1989-01-21) 21 January 1989 61 19 England Manchester United
3MF Marcos Pizzelli (1984-10-03) 3 October 1984 54 9 United Arab Emirates Al-Fujairah
3MF Gevorg Ghazaryan (1988-04-05) 5 April 1988 52 10 Portugal Marítimo
3MF Edgar Malakyan (1990-09-22) 22 September 1990 14 0 Ukraine Stal Kamianske
3MF Gor Malakyan (1994-06-12) 12 June 1994 7 0 Ukraine Stal Kamianske
3MF Artak Grigoryan (1987-10-19) 19 October 1987 5 1 Armenia Alashkert
3MF Karen Muradyan (1992-11-01) 1 November 1992 4 0 Armenia Alashkert
3MF Davit Hakobyan (1993-03-21) 21 March 1993 2 0 Armenia Shirak
4FW Artur Sarkisov (1987-01-19) 19 January 1987 36 5 Russia Mordovia Saransk
4FW Ruslan Koryan (1988-06-15) 15 June 1988 6 0 Russia SKA-Khabarovsk
4FW Heham Kadymyan (1992-10-19) 19 October 1992 5 2 Ukraine Karpaty Lviv
4FW Vardan Pogosyan (1992-08-03) 3 August 1992 3 0 Armenia Pyunik

Recent call-ups

The following players were called up in the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Gevorg Prazyan (1989-07-24) 24 July 1989 0 0 Armenia Ararat v.  Belarus, 25 March 2016
DF Vahagn Minasyan (1985-04-25) 25 April 1985 13 1 Armenia Alashkert v.  Poland, 11 October 2016
DF Gaël Andonian (1995-02-07) 7 February 1995 13 0 France Marseille v.  Poland, 11 October 2016
DF Andranik Voskanyan (1990-04-11) 11 April 1990 1 0 Armenia Alashkert v.  Poland, 11 October 2016
DF Hovhannes Hambardzumyan (1990-10-04) 4 October 1990 15 1 Republic of Macedonia Vardar v.  Denmark, 4 September 2016
DF Gevorg Hovhannisyan (1983-06-16) 16 June 1983 1 0 Armenia Shirak v.  Denmark, 4 September 2016
DF Sergey Avagimyan (1989-07-05) 5 July 1989 1 0 Armenia Ararat v.  El Salvador, 1 June 2016
DF Norayr Grigoryan (1983-01-07) 7 January 1983 0 0 Armenia Ararat v.  Belarus, 25 March 2016
MF Zaven Badoyan (1989-12-22) 22 December 1989 5 1 Armenia Banants v.  Poland, 11 October 2016
MF David Manoyan (1990-07-05) 5 July 1990 24 0 Cyprus Karmiotissa v.  Poland, 11 October 2016
MF Aras Özbiliz (1990-03-09) 9 March 1990 28 4 Turkey Beşiktaş v.  Poland, 11 October 2016
MF Karlen Mkrtchyan (1988-11-25) 25 November 1988 46 2 Russia Anzhi Makhachkala v.  Denmark, 4 September 2016
MF Tigran Barseghyan (1993-09-22) 22 September 1993 3 1 Republic of Macedonia Vardar v.  El Salvador, 1 June 2016
MF Benik Hovhannisyan (1993-05-01) 1 May 1993 2 0 Armenia Ararat v.  Guatemala, 29 May 2016
FW Gegham Harutyunyan (1990-08-23) 23 August 1990 0 0 Armenia Gandzasar v.  Poland, 11 October 2016
FW David Arshakyan (1994-08-16) 16 August 1994 1 0 United States Chicago Fire v.  Denmark, 4 September 2016
FW Edgar Manucharyan (1987-01-19) 19 January 1987 50 9 Thailand Ratchaburi Mitr Phol v.  El Salvador, 1 June 2016
FW Mihran Manasyan (1989-01-13) 13 January 1989 0 0 Armenia Alashkert v.  Belarus, 25 March 2016

Records

Lists of the 10 players with the most caps and top goalscorers for Armenia, as of 11 November 2016 (players in bold are still available for selection):

Most Caps
# Player Caps Goals Career
1 Sargis Hovsepyan 132 2 1992–2012
2 Roman Berezovsky 94 0 1996–2015
3 Robert Arzumanyan 74 5 2005–2015
4 Artur Petrosyan 69 11 1992–2004
5 Harutyun Vardanyan 62 1 1994–2004
6 Henrikh Mkhitaryan 61 19 2007—
7 Hamlet Mkhitaryan 56 2 1994–2008
8 Romik Khachatryan 54 1 1997–2008
Marcos Pizzelli 54 9 2008—
10 Armen Shahgeldyan 53 6 1992–2007

Last updated: 11 November 2016.
Bolded players are currently active.
Top Goalscorers
# Player Goals Caps Career
1 Henrikh Mkhitaryan 19 61 2007—
2 Artur Petrosyan 11 69 1992–2004
3 Yura Movsisyan 10 35 2010—
Gevorg Ghazaryan 10 52 2007—
5 Edgar Manucharyan 9 50 2004—
Marcos Pizzelli 9 54 2008—
7 Ara Hakobyan 7 42 1998–2008
8 Armen Shahgeldyan 6 53 1992–2007
9 Arman Karamyan 5 49 2000–2010
Robert Arzumanyan 5 74 2005–2015
Artur Sarkisov 5 36 2011—

Last updated: 11 November 2016 .
Bolded players are currently active.

2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying

Armenia is competing in Group E in qualification for 2018 FIFA World Cup. {{2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group E|show_matches=no|showteam=ARM}}

Managers

Vardan Minasyan held the position from 2009 to 2014, the longest period of time.
As of 11 October 2016
Manager Period Pld Won Tied Lost GF GA Win %
Armenia Eduard Markarov 1992–1994 6 1 2 3 1 5 16.7%
Armenia Samvel Darbinyan 1995–1996 9 1 1 7 5 21 11.1%
Armenia Khoren Hovhannisyan 1996–1997 16 2 5 9 10 41 12.5%
Armenia Souren Barseghyan 1998–1999 14 4 2 8 11 19 28.6%
Armenia Varuzhan Sukiasyan 2000–2001 17 3 7 7 17 27 17.6%
Armenia Andranik Adamyan (caretaker) 2002 1 1 0 0 2 0 100%
Argentina Oscar López 2002 2 0 1 1 2 4 0%
Armenia Andranik Adamyan (caretaker) 2003 1 0 0 1 0 2 0%
Romania Mihai Stoichiţă 2003–2004 10 4 1 5 11 17 40%
France Bernard Casoni 2004–2005 8 1 1 6 5 18 12.5%
Netherlands Henk Wisman 2005–2006 8 1 1 6 5 14 12.5%
Scotland Ian Porterfield 2006–2007 10 2 4 4 5 9 20%
Armenia Vardan Minasyan (caretaker)
England Tom Jones (caretaker)		 2007 6 1 1 4 2 8 16.7%
Denmark Jan Poulsen 2008–2009 12 3 4 5 9 19 25%
Armenia Vardan Minasyan 2009–2014 39 14 4 21 56 58 35.9%
Switzerland Bernard Challandes 2014–2015 9 1 1 7 9 23 11.1%
Armenia Sargis Hovsepyan (caretaker) 2015 4 0 1 3 2 9 0%
Armenia Varuzhan Sukiasyan 2015–2016 7 2 1 4 12 12 28.6%
Armenia Artur Petrosyan 2016- 1 1 0 0 3 2 100.0%

Team image

Nickname

The Armenia team is called the Havakakan (Հավաքական), literally the "Collective team".[25]

Jerseys and Colour

The home gear color were previously the Red-Blue-Orange Armenian tricolour, designed by Stepan Malkhasyants. All three colors were on the first Armenian national team jerseys ever designed. The definition of the colors, as stated in government website, is:

The Red emblematizes the Armenian Highland, the Armenian people's continued struggle for survival, maintenance of the Orthodox Christian faith, Armenia's independence and freedom. The Blue emblematizes the will of the people of Armenia to live beneath peaceful skies. The Orange emblematizes the creative talent and hard-working nature of the people of Armenia.[26]

In the Euro 2012 qualification matches, played in 2010 and 2011, Armenia's home colors were red-blue-red, produced by Hummel. Beginning with May 2012 friendly with Greece, Armenia switched to all-red home colours and all-white away kit produced Adidas.[5]

Kit suppliers

Kit provider Period
Germany Puma 1992–1999
Italy Lotto 2000–2003
Denmark Hummel 2004–2011
Germany Adidas 2012–present

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Armenia national football team". Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Home". Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  3. ↑ "Armenia". FIFA.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  4. 1 2 Ogden, Mark (11 October 2011). "Republic of Ireland 2 Armenia 1: match report". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Հայաստանի ֆուտբոլի ֆեդերացիա – ՀՖՖ-ի մասին (in Armenian). FFA.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "ARMENIA-MOLDOVA 0:0". Armfootball.tripod.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "ARMENIA". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Վարդան Մինասյանի ամանորյա անկեղծացումը (in Armenian). sport.news.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  9. ↑ Рубен Айрапетян: Вардан Минасян продолжит возглавлять сборную Армении (in Russian). ArmFootball.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  10. ↑ Рубен Айрапетян: тренером сборной будет Минасян (in Russian). ArmFootball.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  11. ↑ Վարդան Մինասյանը հավաքականը կգլխավորի մինչև 2012թ. (in Armenian). aysor.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  12. ↑ "UEFA EURO 2012 Standings". UEFA.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  13. ↑ "Armenia – History and achievements". Footballtop.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  14. 1 2 "Euro 2012 qual. – Armenia file protest over keeper's red card". Yahoo! Sport. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  15. ↑ "Ireland 2 – 1 Armenia. Cox admits cheating!". YouTube.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  16. ↑ Klopman, Michael (12 October 2011). "Valeri Aleksanyan Own Goal: Armenia Player Makes Embarrassing Play Against Ireland (VIDEO)". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  17. ↑ Իտուրալդե Գոնսալեսն ավարտում է մրցավարի կարիերան (in Armenian). sport.news.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  18. ↑ Վարդան Մինասյան. Ես հպարտ եմ մեր ֆուտբոլիստներով, նրանք շատ լավ աշխատանք կատարեցին (in Armenian). PanArmenian.Net. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  19. ↑ Վարդան Մինասյան. Մեր խմբի բոլոր թիմերը հավասար էին, սակայն, Հայաստանն ամենագեղեցիկ խաղը ցուցադրեց (in Armenian). PanArmenian.Net. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  20. ↑ Հայ ֆուտբոլիստներին օդանավակայանում դիմավորել են որպես հերոսների (in Armenian). PanArmenian.Net. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  21. 1 2 "Football diplomacy, Armenia-Turkey: From Ararat's victory to Jorkaeff's goal". ArmeniaNow.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  22. ↑ "Soviet top league 1971". Rsssf.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  23. ↑ ՄԱՐԶԱԴԱՇՏ. ՎԱԶԳԵՆ ՍԱՐԳՍՅԱՆԻ ԱՆՎԱՆ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏԱԿԱՆ ՄԱՐԶԱԴԱՇՏԸ (in Armenian). Armmonuments.am. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  24. ↑ "Hrazdan Holding:Sports Complex". Hrazdanholding.com. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  25. ↑ "Soccer: Armenia to seek victories as World Cup qualifyng [sic] matches resume". ArmeniaNow. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  26. ↑ "General Information: section the Flag". Government of Republic of Armenia. Retrieved 16 April 2013.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Armenia national football team.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.