Minasyan transforms pretenders into real contenders

WHEN viewed from a certain perspective, Armenia don’t appear to meet any of the requirements for success in international football.

Completely devoid of any pedigree, almost all of their players turn out for either middling Ukrainian clubs or remain in the Armenian top division. Most of all, in a climate where Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger feel international management is best suited to experienced, elder statesmen such as Giovanni Trapattoni, their coach is a 37-year-old novice.

But then manager Vardan Minasyan is a perfect illustration of how the parameters of international football are changing.