Latvia coach Starkovs to lead Bakı too
Monday, January 17, 2011
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Latvia coach Aleksandrs Starkovs has also taken charge of Azerbaijan's Bakı FK, telling UEFA.com: "It'll be tough to combine these two jobs, but I have confidence in myself."
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Latvia coach Aleksandrs Starkovs is to combine his national-team role with a new position in charge of Azerbaijan's Bakı FK.
Starkovs has signed a two-year contract with the side currently seventh in the 12-team Azerbaijani Premier League. It is not the first time he has coached a club in tandem with Latvia, as in his initial spell at the national helm between 2001 and 2004 and again last year he was also in charge of Skonto FC, never failing to win the Virsliga.
"Bakı showed their interest from the start of the year and it's very flattering for me," Starkovs told UEFA.com. "Bakı are a very ambitious side. It will be interesting to achieve great things together. Resent results are not what they expected, but I think we're capable of fixing the situation."
In their bid to repeat their 2004 qualification under Starkovs, Latvia lie fifth in UEFA EURO 2012 Group F, four points off second place, and next visit Israel on 26 March. Starkovs, reappointed to the helm in 2007, said: "It'll be tough to combine these two jobs, but I have confidence in myself. I always give my all and it'll be the same this time."