Yeghishe Melikyan: After the match with Ireland, let’s enjoy the victory

The Armenian national team earned an important victory in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. In Yerevan, Yeghishe Melikyan’s men defeated Ireland 2-1. This result was not only a breath of fresh air after the setback against Portugal but also proof that the team can adapt and fight against strong opponents.

After the match, the head coach of Armenia’s national team answered questions from journalists and shared his views on the game, the players, and the team’s future goals.

Yeghishe Melikyan’s press conference after the match with Ireland

— What was the game plan?
— The plan was to win!

— Armenia created many chances but didn’t convert all of them. How to improve finishing?
— Yes, of course, Ranos could have scored more, but he lacks match practice. Not only him, there were other moments as well. We can’t always play like this against strong teams; we need to improve our finishing. Anyway, I am satisfied with the match and the victory. The main thing is that two goals were enough to win.

— Against Portugal our defenders played poorly, but today they were excellent, especially Erik Piloyan, who has the least experience. How do you rate their performance?
— I won’t single anyone out. Remember, when we lost 0-5, I wasn’t too upset. I am the head coach and the leader of the team, so I wanted to keep the team’s spirit. Please, don’t criticize and hurt us too much, especially after the Portugal match. We are a problematic team, and it’s easy from the outside to hurt and criticize players. Only the strong stay together and go until the end. After that game, many supported me and believed in us, which helped. Before the match, I said our country and our people needed a victory, and we achieved it. Let’s enjoy this victory. As for the defenders, we worked a lot on mistakes. Against Irland, those mistakes were gone, which means we prepared well. In the future there will still be tough games, it will be hard to maintain stability, but we will try to do everything right.

— In the second half, was Nair Tiknizyan instructed to play as an inverted fullback?
— Yes, that was the instruction. You could see that we played with a different system than against Portugal. You wanted a surprise – today we did it.

— What moment pleased you the most in this game?
— In our goals and play, I saw tactics, character, belief, fight, and commitment to the team. That’s what I wanted to see.

— Why was Ognen Čančarević in goal?
— Henri Avagyan was injured. But I am very satisfied with Čančarević and grateful to him. There were problems with playing with the ball, but it’s normal: Avagyan knows my tactics from Pyunik, while Ognen is not yet used to it.

— Today Artur Serobyan played despite lacking match practice. He hadn’t played for more than a month. Many say: why put players without practice? But Serobyan came in and played very well, even without counting the disallowed goal. What did you see in his performance?
— Yes, you may have noticed that today Bichakhchyan didn’t start, unlike against Portugal, because we changed the system. But Vahan played really well. The others also entered the game strongly. It is important that substitutes don’t hold grudges against me. I don’t like that. They must go on the pitch and fight, which I saw today. Sevikyan also played against Portugal, although he too lacks club practice, like Serobyan. I just want to help my players, give them confidence so that their club situation improves. Today I also wanted to bring on Hovhannes Harutyunyan and Karen Nalbandyan, but the ending was tough and I didn’t want to take risks. Anyway, I think about every player. Some may feel offended, but I spoke with them and asked for understanding.

— What should be done to have stability?
— My style is that I never reduce the level of pressure, even if we win 10 matches in a row. So I assure you: the players will always stay sharp, and we will always strive to play this way. In football, stability is the hardest thing, and it is very difficult to achieve. I still believe in it, but we need to work a lot.

— Why was Daniel Agbalyan not included in the squad for both matches? Was it your decision or due to injury?
— No, only my decision. We had to leave someone out of the squad, but he also deserved to play. He plays as an “eight,” where we have Hovhannes Harutyunyan, Eduard Spertsyan, and Dashyan is universal. Anyway, I like Agbalyan’s game, but right now there is big competition in his position.

— What do you say about captain Tigran Barseghyan?
— Every coach has his own position about the captain. If we need to change the captain, we will, no problem. But at the moment Tigran suits me completely.