“One of the toughest games of my life” – Nair Tiknizyan

Nair Tiknizyan, defender of the Armenian national team, shared his impressions ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Croatia.

“I’m in great spirits and feel good, as I always do when I’m in Yerevan and at the national team camp. We have a strong desire to achieve a good result in our home stadium. There is no fear; yes, there is some anxiety, which will only turn into motivation. Croatia is one of the best teams in Europe. I will be happy to play against such high-class players as those in Croatia tomorrow. There are no easy games in football now, and I can assume this will be one of the toughest games of my life, especially since there are world-class players on the Croatian team.

I feel lucky to be with the Armenian national team and am grateful to the Armenian people, the Football Federation of Armenia, and the coaching staff for trusting me, believing in me, and accepting me so well.

The match against Turkey was one of the most intense games and was particularly emotional, but the fact that the fans tried to distract us only made us smile and did not create difficulties. In the locker room, we were all very sad; we were very close to victory. We give everything we have and all our strength to each game. We will also have strength against Croatia.

All of us teammates feel good about each other, even though we haven’t been training together for long. Our cooperation is quite good, and the contribution of our coaching staff is significant.

As for my performance, I never evaluate my own game. It’s better to ask the coaching staff about that,” Tiknizyan said.