Azerbaijan advance despite Denmark defeat

Impressive wins against Poland and mini-tournament hosts Israel took Azerbaijan into the UEFA European Under-19 Championship Elite round for only the second time although Denmark pipped them to first place in Group 13.

Impressive success
Azerbaijan last progressed from the qualifying round in 2006/07 yet they were swiftly into their stride against Israel on Matchday 1, Orkhan Hasanov and Tural Isgandarov giving them a two-goal advantage by the half-hour mark. Hasanov then finished the scoring with his second and Azerbaijan's third six minutes from time. The other opening fixture proved to be a tighter affair, Denmark's Thomas Delaney cancelling out Michal Jonczyk's tenth-minute strike for Poland before half-time. Michal Kucharczyk then struck what proved to be the winner for Poland two minutes past the hour.

Narrow wins
It was a different story on Matchday 2, however, Aaraz Abdullayev giving Azerbaijan a 40th-minute lead against Poland and Mirhuseyn Seyidov earning a second successive win eight minutes from time after Kucharczyk (53) had pulled his side back on level terms. Denmark duly seized the opportunity to revive their qualification hopes with the narrowest of victories against Israel, substitute Nicolai Jørgensen scoring the only goal in Nes-Ziona in the final minute.

Denmark triumphant
That meant Bernhard Lippert's Azerbaijan had one foot in the next round, although those aspirations were left in the balance after a 3-0 defeat by the Danes on Matchday 3. Azerbaijan were already trailing to a first-half double from Jens Stryger Larsen (27pen, 39) by the time Parviz Bayramov was shown a straight red card six minutes into the second period. Jørgensen duly added a third eleven minutes from time and Azerbaijan finished with nine men after Javidan Musazade collected a second yellow card in added time. A Polish win against Israel could therefore have earned a top-two finish and Azerbaijani prospects looked bleak when Tomasz Holota gave them a 24th-minute lead, but Shlomi Levi levelled matters four minutes before half-time and neither side was able to find a winner in the second period, leaving Poland in third place and Israel fourth.