"If you ask any sports person in my country 'who is the stupidest football player, who plays at the most mediocre place', the answer would be… me. Azeri football is not famous, to say the least. I play for a small club here. But still, the level here is higher than what I have experienced during my entire career in Israel, in all aspects,” says Idan Weitzman, 30, a central defender at Azeri club Simurq Zaqatala for the past two seasons.
BabaGol had the pleasure of speaking to Idan about football, obstacles, philosophy and maturity.
As a player, Weitzman has always felt like part of the weakest link in the food chain of Israeli football. The foreigners at the top, the national team members in the middle, and last of all,-the Israelis who play for small clubs and weaker teams. Weitzman’s career has taken him to several of these kinds of clubs. He has played for Hapoel Acre, Nazareth Elite, Hakoach Ramat Gan, Ashdod, Hapoel Haifa and Bnei Sakhnin. He’s certainly tasted the less glamorous side of Israeli football.
Two years ago, he went to play in Azerbaijan, a destination which was regarded by many as marginal, not very interesting and certainly not an improved opportunity.
" Israeli players are currently better than their Azeri counterparts, but the foreign players in Azerbaijan are a few levels above the Israeli league. The league here is difficult and challenging”
This past season was the best of his career. He grabbed three goals and four assists and was one of the team's key players throughout the season.
The Republic of Azerbaijan is a transcontinental presidential republic in the Caucasus region of Central Asia. The capital Baku is a rapidly-developing cosmopolitan city of 2.13 million inhabitants. Shi'a Islam is therefore the country's main religious stream, the regime is secular and there is a separation between state and religion. In recent years, reports of restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the country are being published, alongside other totalitarian aspects of the government, which is dictated by Ilham Aliyev. The presence of the ruling family is notable everywhere in the country. Despite these facts, Weitzman feels confident and relaxed in the ex-Soviet state.
"In every city, there are several streets named after Heydar Aliyev (the former president), public parks named after him and countless statues of him. The people here are very kind. Zaqatala is a small place and everyone here is friendly, polite and calm".
The Topaz Premyer Liqasi, Azerbaijan’s first division, is one of the channels through which the state is trying to improve its image. The government is investing in various sports, in an attempt to reach European standards and worldwide recognition. The Azeris are currently hosting the European games, they will host a Formula 1 Grand Prix in 2016, a quarter-final of Euro 2020 and have submitted proposals to hold the 2024 Olympics in Baku, after the 2016 and 2020 bids were rejected. Aliyev also decided to invest in domestic football, which was by now a partial success. Few clubs suffer severe economic instability and promotion from the second division is determined by meeting economic criteria, regardless of the winner and runners-up of the competition. Next season, all teams are supposed to receive three million Euros each, in an ambitious move to raise the standards and improve the quality of the local scene. The Azeri champions for the second time in-a-row are Qarabag, who had a ‘last second knockout’ from the Europa League this season because of a refereeing mistake, and next season will participate in the Champions League qualifying phase.
Weitzman's team, Simurq, is not a top-tier side in the Azeri league. Zaqatala is a small northern town, near the border with Georgia. "Sometimes, on the way from the airport, I get stuck in traffic jams caused by huge flocks of sheep blocking the road", he laughs. The players and their families live together in a shared complex owned and managed by the club. They train together, have their meals together and live side-by-side in similar apartments. The gym and the training ground are a two minute walk from there, which makes the daily routine very professional. "As a team, it is very uniting. I call it a year-round training camp”.
Simurq’s season was highly controversial and reached two extreme peaks. The opening was excellent, they had a few great results, came fourth and qualified for the semi-final of the Azeri Cup. Everything was set up and ready for Zaqatala’s historic first Europa league campaign, until one day everything changed. This time, it wasn’t the flock of sheep that disturbed Simurq’s professional routine.
Back in March, the team gained an impressive 3-0 away victory over Bakı. After the match, the foreign players went to the club’s office, in order to receive their salaries before flying home for a short vacation. Then they heard the bad news.
The sporting director became embarrassed and informed them that their salaries hadn’t arrived. He stressed that it was unclear when they would. "All the players were nervous and irritated, but we all had flights home to catch, so we left”. On the next day things became clearer. The sponsor was leaving and it was unclear who would look after the club´s players, staff and employees. In the meantime, the team had a crucial game against AZAL, which could have secured the club´s 4th place. The players decided to put all the issues aside and won 1-0. "It was a perfect feeling. We opened up a 4-point gap on the 5th place. We all sang “Where's the money?” in the dressing room, but the atmosphere was excellent".
In retrospective, at the time they still had not fully internalized the situation. A few days later, more rumors circulated. 'They will cut half of the players salaries', 'a new sponsor will arrive, it will replace half of the squad', 'the club is nearly bankrupt', 'the club will have to pay everything' and so on. WhatsApp groups in Russian and English were opened between the players, the locals translated the newspapers for the foreigners and the coach tried to filter and pass on the most reliable information. In the middle of this storm, another important match was coming up - a fight for the 3rd place against Neftchi Baku PFK, one of the richest clubs in the country.
"We started very good; we controlled the game but missed a lot. At the end, we lost 1-0. The team’s morale began to deteriorate, and we lost again on the next game. After that, a snowball of economic uncertainty combined with the losses was heading at us".
When the losing streak reached three games, Simurq had to play the cup semi-finals against the champions, Qarabag. Despite a combative display in the first game, Weitzman and his teammates lost 1-0, squeezed a 0-0 draw in the 2nd leg and concluded their journey in the competition. Both games joined a sequence of seven games without a victory, what literally terminated their season.
"We started very well; we controlled the game but missed a lot of chances. In the end, we lost 1-0. The team’s morale began to deteriorate and we lost again in the next game. After that, a snowball of economic uncertainty combined with losses on the pitch was heading right for us".
When the losing streak reached three games, Simurq had to play the cup semi-final against the champions, Qarabag. Despite a combative display in the first game, Weitzman and his teammates lost 1-0, ground out a 0-0 draw in the 2nd leg and continued their journey in the competition. Both games were part of a sequence of seven games without a victory, which literally put an end to their season.
"After the semi-finals we had a meeting and we were told that, at that time, there was no one at the club who could take care of the situation, and that the money would not arrive until the end of the year. It was final”.
The club offered the foreign players airline tickets and certificates in order to defend them in any future lawsuits. In addition, it approved the players to turn to FIFA regarding the matter, and promised to stay in touch. “Two players asked for their plane tickets and left the same night. And in the following days, everyday someone else was leaving".
Despite the unstable atmosphere, Weitzman decided to stay at Simurq until almost the last matchday. "I wanted to play the last home game in front of our fans. Usually there are 2,500-3,000 spectators at our games, but they are one of the best audiences and group of supporters in the league".
Simurq won the match 4-0. Weitzman scored one, assisted another and gave his home crowd a cheerful farewell, without having a clue about the future.
Uncertainty is nothing new to Weitzman, as it has often accompanied him during his career. When he was 20 years old, he went for a trial at Acre with another 70 players. He persuaded the coach, and asked him to keep him at the team, even as the fourth choice in defence. The coach told him that he was not planning to play him that much. "I like it when coaches tell me that they don’t count me as a first choice. I love it. It’s exactly the status I love to start from, in order to fit in to my ‘place in the team”.
One day at training, the coach was missing a player to have a full game of 22 players. Weitzman was asked to play as a defensive midfielder and to neutralize the other team’s playmaker. "He didn’t touch the ball even once, and I suddenly did some good offensive moves too. The coach himself didn’t understand what was happening. It was a day where everything went smoothly”
From there, the road to the team’s first eleven was quick. He had a difficult period in Ashdod, where he had almost no opportunity to prove himself. The situation caused him to look differently at the reality of Israeli football, and to change his approach towards his profession.
"Until then I was a ‘good-boy’ in football. Then I realized I did not need to be shy, and if something bothers me I need to talk about it and say so." After Ashdod, he had a compensating experience at Sakhnin. Well, almost. After two and a half excellent seasons with the biggest Arab-Israeli club, the big clubs' offers did not arrive.
"Publicity does not do anything for to me. I do not see the need to connect with reporters or to chase the media. Some might say that this is the reason I'm not progressing, but it does not bother me. My career may not have reached the highest peaks, but I wish all players of my level, the ‘ordinary', 'under the radar’ players, to have a career like mine, in terms of game-time and achievements”, he says smiling.
The two year spell in Azerbaijan gave Weitzman a different perspective on football in his home country. “Israeli players want to be part of the Premier League at all costs and are prepared to sell themselves for pennies. I'm not talking about teenagers or young guys. There are players aged 25 or 26 in the Israeli Premier League who earn U-21 salaries. Damn it, why? You work so hard, you earn so little, just to have your photo in another sticker album? The clubs earn and save money and the players are the ones who lose out. This phenomenon has been increasing over the past two years".
Whether we learn to appreciate Azeri soccer or not, many footballers can learn from the story of Idan Weitzman and his decision to travel and play in Azerbaijan.
"A footballer must have the experience of playing abroad, in order to discover a new place and to meet another culture; to acknowledge another type of football. Suddenly you realize how the foreigners who were with you in the dressing room used to feel. It’s an educational, self-improving and an eye-opening experience. Both as a player and as a human being".
As in every BabaGol interview, Idan answered the ‘Personal Football Questions’ questionnaire.
What's your favorite position?
You will laugh - the offensive roles. In training sessions, I like to play as a right-wing forward.
What is your favorite formation for a football team?
It depends on the players I would have available. If I had to be a coach, I would play 4-5-1 in defence and change it to 4-3-3 in offence. I’d need some intelligent players.
Describe Idan Weitzman?
Indifferent, a bit old, but overall - a good guy I think.
If you weren’t a footballer, what would you do?
I have no idea. I can’t imagine myself in another profession.
What’s your favourite team?
Hapoel Haifa. It is the only club badge I ever kissed after scoring.
Who is your favourite player?
That’s an easy one: Steven Gerrard.
What is the greatest moment of your football team’s history?
It was this season, Simurq against Sumqayit. We were expected to win, as they were the weaker team. They led 1-0 at half-time and in the dressing room people were shouting and throwing chairs during the break. They scored again to make it 2-0 in the 55th minute, and our coach went to a super offensive 3-4-3 formation. In the 57th minute we scored to make it 1-2. After 64 minutes, we leveled to 2-2, and in the 70th minute it was 3-2 to us. I could not believe it was happening. There were only 2,500 people at the stadium, but it felt like 100,000. It was a sweet victory.
What is your 'dream' in football?
To stay fit and healthy so I can play as much as possible until I am 40 years old and enjoy it.