Our prediction for this match:
Armenia will look to recover from a 2-1 loss to Slovenia when they take on Kazakhstan on Friday afternoon. The Armenians are on a four-game losing run in all competitions, but their display in Tuesday’s friendly was anything but poor. All Shaghoyan, Bichakhchyan, Tarakhchyan, and Harutyunyan are pushing for a start as head coach Oleksandr Petrakov is expected to make changes to the team that faced Slovenia.
The Kazakhs, on the other hand, suffered a 2-1 loss to Luxembourg in their last warm-up game. Anyhow, Armenia and Kazakhstan seem to be evenly matched at the moment and we predict that they are going to share the spoils in Friday’s friendly. A man to keep an eye on in Stanislav Cherchesov’s team will be Adana attacker Abat Aymbetov, who has netted 9 goals in 37 appearances for the national team. Last time out the two sides played out a 1-1 draw.
Highlighted Team (Armenia):
Armenia footballers played for Soviet Union national football team until 1991, when the country declared independence. The Football Federation of Armenia was founded the following year and they quickly established relations with both FIFA (1992) and UEFA (1993).
Despite the fact that Manchester United ace Henrikh Mkhitaryan plays for the Armenia national football team, the Havakakan have yet to qualify for the finals of a major tournament. Mkhitaryan is undisputedly the team’s most famous footballer, but we should mention former Ajax striker Edgar Manucharyan as well, who is in the twighlight of his career. Armenia played their first international game against Moldova in October, 1992 and it has to be noted that they played out a goalless draw with the former Soviet republic.
The Armenians have slim chances of qualifying for the FIFA World cup 2018 finals, but they did well to beat Montenegro in the process. Armenia footballers wear red shirts and red shorts when playing at home ground (Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium), while the colour of their away kits is white.