Gurban Gurbanov is a former Azerbaijani professional footballer who played as a striker. In the period from 1992 to 2005, he played as part of the national football team of Azerbaijan. Since 2008, the club has been training the “Karabakh Adam” club.
Player and Coach Achievements
During his eighteen-year career as a player, an athlete scored 178 goals in 399 matches.
As part of the national team debuted on September 17, 1992. As of January 2006, he scored 14 goals in 67 international matches. This indicator is a record in the statistics of the Azerbaijani team. The 28-year-old footballer Vagif Javadov has every chance to surpass Gurbanov. Currently, he has 9 goals scored in 57 matches.
Gurbanov is the head coach of the Azerbaijani club "Karabakh Adam." Gurban Gurbanov is the first coach in the history of the “horses” who brought the team to the Champions League. In total, he won 13 trophies: 5 as a player and 8 as a coach.
Biography: the beginning of a football career
Gurban Grubanov was born on April 13 in 1972 in the city of Zakataly (Azerbaijan SSR). He started his professional football career at the local club “Dashgyn” (then the USSR), in which he played 2 seasons (played in 54 matches, scoring 28 goals).
In the 1991/92 season, he played as part of the Georgian club Mertskhali. Here, the athlete took part in 20 championship matches and recorded 6 goals. The following season, Gurban Gurbanov returned to Dashgyn, where he played as a key striker. He scored 26 goals in 40 matches of the Azerbaijani championship.
First achievements: career at Turan Club
The first trophy won was won in the 1993/94 season as part of Turan - the team became the champion of the Azerbaijani championship. As part of the club, he became the top scorer - in 29 games he scored 9 goals. The next season for “Turan” was marked by silver medals in the championship. In total, over 2 seasons he played 54 matches and scored 29 goals.
In the 1995/96 season he began playing as part of the Kur-Nur club. However, here his career only declined. The rest of the season I played in "Turan", in which I returned to my previous form (in 15 games I scored 9 goals).
Successful seasons at Neftchi: performances for Russian clubs
In the summer of 1996, he joined the Nefchi club from Baku. He played here until 1998 and became the top scorer of the championship. In 44 matches for the club he managed to score 44 goals.
From 1998 to 2001, the Azerbaijani striker had experience playing for Russian clubs: he played at Dynamo Stavropol, Baltika and Fakel. In each of the listed clubs he was a key player. In Dynamo, he scored 21 goals in 37 games, in Baltika - 3 goals in 15 games, and in Fakel - 12 goals in 37 games.
In 2001, Gurban Gurbanov returned to Neftchi, where he became vice-champion of Azerbaijan 2001/02. Here in 14 matches he scored 10 goals.
In 2002, he returned to the Russian “Torch”, in which he continued his scoring series. For 28 meetings he was able to score 8 goals. In 2003, he played for Volgar-Gazprom, in which performances were not something remarkable.
In 2003, Gurban Gurbanov was recognized as the best football player in Azerbaijan according to the famous sports publication Football +.
In the 2003/04 season, he again returned to Neftchi and continued to conquer the Azerbaijani championship. Here he entered the list of top scorers of Azerbaijani football in its entire history. Gurban Gurbanov shares 4-5 places with Samir Alekperov, as they have 115 goals each.
The player’s career ended at the Inter Baku club in 2006.
Soccer Coaching
After leaving sports, he was appointed coach of the Neftchi club. At the end of the 2006/07 season, he was removed from office for unsatisfactory results. Since 2008, began to train the football club "Karabakh Adam."
Under the management of Gurban Gurbanov, he became the two-time champion of Azerbaijan and the three-time winner of the Azerbaijan Cup. Also, bronze medals were won twice in the championship and once silver.