National Team Friendly

National stadium
Spectators: 10300 (Terracing: 7725, Seating: 2369, VIP seats: 206) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Robin Steckamp took the kick off in the first half of the match. 4 minutes into the match, Austria's goal looked a bit too open when Häsrät Azamämmädov came free, but Hans-Jürgen Pötscher reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Hans-Jürgen Pötscher took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Äliqulu Vermäliyev, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 6 minutes into the match, Äliqulu Vermäliyev had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Hans-Jürgen Pötscher. Austria's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Äliqulu Vermäliyev was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. Hans-Jürgen Pötscher made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Şair Baloğlanov in the 9th minute of play. After some careless play in the Azerbaijan defense, Robin Steckamp kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Mänsur Rzayev. The Azerbaijan fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Mänsur Rzayev should have stopped the shot. Austria's Hans-Jürgen Pötscher played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Şair Baloğlanov in the 13th minute of play. Äliqulu Vermäliyev hit a great freekick 14 minutes into the match. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Robin Steckamp in the 15th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Mänsur Rzayev prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Mänsur Rzayev showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Robin Steckamp, who was totally free with the ball in the 16th minute. Häsrät Azamämmädov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 19th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Austria's Hans-Jürgen Pötscher played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Äliqulu Vermäliyev in the 23rd minute of play. With his leg Mänsur Rzayev managed to avoid a goal in the 25thth minute, when Austria's Robin Steckamp fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. After taking down the ball on Austria's corner Michael-Jan Schönberg fired away a hard shot, but the defenders efficiently covered the most dangerous angles and Mänsur Rzayev quite easily take care of the ball. Azerbaijan's Häsrät Azamämmädov got a good chance for a goal in the 28th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. With a little luck, Azerbaijan's Mänsur Rzayev got control of the ball when Adrian Meinhardt tried to sneak it across the goal line. Mänsur Rzayev took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Matthias Zahn, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gündüz Haqverdiyev in the 34th minute of play forced Austria's goalkeeper Hans-Jürgen Pötscher to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 35 minutes of play, Azerbaijan's Şair Baloğlanov made it 1-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Hans-Jürgen Pötscher was left in no man's land by his defense there! The audience thought a goal was coming when Adrian Meinhardt got free with Mänsur Rzayev in the 38th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Michael-Jan Schönberg kicked well hit freekick during the 39th minute of the match. 40 minutes into the match, Austria's goal looked a bit too open when Şair Baloğlanov came free, but Hans-Jürgen Pötscher reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 44 played minutes Austria got a freekick which was hit by Dustin Lieven. The first half was very even, with the score at 2-2 when the whistle went for half-time. The players welcomed the break and quickly retired to the dressing rooms.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Aqil Mövsümov was the one to do the kick off. If Adrian Meinhardt had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 55th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 63rd minute, Häsrät Azamämmädov ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Hans-Jürgen Pötscher was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-3. Hans-Jürgen Pötscher showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Şair Baloğlanov in the 67th minute of the match. In the 69th minute Häsrät Azamämmädov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Hans-Jürgen Pötscher saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 77thth minute of the game Robin Steckamp who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Azerbaijan's Mänsur Rzayev was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Aqil Mövsümov could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 82nd minute of the match, but Hans-Jürgen Pötscher made a huge save. In the 83rd minute Robin Steckamp shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Mänsur Rzayev saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Hans-Jürgen Pötscher stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Häsrät Azamämmädov's shot from short distance in the 86th minute. Austria made a substitution. Torben Krabber replaced Sebastian Dirkes. In the 95th match minute, Austria was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Daniel Tschida to maneuver through the defense. Austria's Hans-Jürgen Pötscher played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Şair Baloğlanov in the 95th minute of play. The teams fought very hard right up to the final whistle. Both sets of players were happy to go away with a draw.