Joaquin Caparros on Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The head coach of the Armenian national team, Joaquin Caparros, held a pre-match press conference ahead of the friendly match against Croatia and spoke about Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

During the conference, he was asked why Mkhitaryan's name is missing from the national team roster. “I have addressed this issue many times, and I will say it once more. We are going to play two friendly matches, during which I want to check the capabilities of new players, and this is the best opportunity to do that. I have repeatedly stated that Mkhitaryan is an excellent player. He is very important for our team, and I hope that Henrikh will join us for the official matches in September and help us. Ahead of us is a pleasant yet very complex challenge, and we are approaching it with great enthusiasm,” Caparros said.

He emphasized that no one can influence his decision-making. “I would like to clarify one thing: I have 40 years of coaching experience, and no one has ever been able to influence my selection decisions. We need to strengthen the players who are currently available to us,” he stated.

It is noteworthy that Caparros published the list of players called up to the Armenian national team on May 24, which sparked significant discussion on social media.

The team's captain, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, was surprised by the fact that he was not invited to the upcoming international matches. He made a post on his Facebook page addressing the list of players called up to the national team. Mkhitaryan mentioned that the official reasons did not convince him, but he stands by the team and wishes them success in their upcoming matches.

Moreover, the Armenian national team will hold two friendly matches in June. The match against Croatia will take place on June 1 at 20:00 (Yerevan time) at the City Stadium of Velika Gorica, while the friendly match against Sweden is scheduled for June 5 at 22:45 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm.