Uzbekistan seals footballing dream with World Cup qualification
Uzbekistan are heading to next year’s World Cup for the very first time in the country’s history, an accomplishment that caps years of development in a part of the world not known for its footballing prowess.The Main Asian
country qualified for football’s leading international competition on Thursday thanks to a 0-0 draw with the United Arab Emirates– adequate to seal the achievement with one game to spare.Advertisement “I can not communicate my sensations. I am extremely, very happy– for the first time in 34 years the Uzbekistan nationwide team has actually reached the World Cup,”Otabek Khaydarov, a 36-year-old entrepreneur told AFP in Tashkent after the final whistle.Ex-Soviet Uzbekistan started contending as an independent nation in the 1990s, following the split of the USSR.Footage shared on social networks showed the players, draped in nationwide flags, mobbing coach Timur Kapadze in journalism room after the game.The growth of the competition from 32 to 48 groups has actually provided standard outsiders, like Uzbekistan, the opportunity to get into the top ranks of world football.Advertisement But their success is not just down to a bigger World Cup.Uzbekistan is among Asia’s fastest establishing footballing nations.And throughout Central Asia, the sport remains in the ascendancy– backed by state funding and growing popularity in an area where fight sports traditionally reign supreme.Ravshan Khaydarov, the coach of Uzbekistan’s under-23 national group, said qualification is the result of”a long-term effort “.”Presidential decrees adopted to reform football five or six years ago marked the beginning of a process that is still continuous, “he informed AFP on the sidelines of a match in Tashkent, ahead of the crunch game against UAE.Advertisement The building and construction of
brand-new arenas and training centres, often with FIFA’s assistance, has actually been crucial, he stated.-State affair-Such support from the top is necessary in an area dominated by autocratic regimes.In both Uzbekistan and neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, the nationwide football federations are controlled by effective secret service chiefs.On the pitch, Uzbekistan’s charge to the competition– to be staged throughout the United States, Canada and
Mexico– was led by the
star trio of centre back Abdukodir Khusanov, striker Eldor Shomurodov and winger Abbosbek Fayzullaev.Khusanov, who
transferred to Manchester City in a reported$45-million deal previously this year, has actually ended up being a national hero at home.Advertisement Bootleg jerseys including his name and number are offered at markets throughout the landlocked country.Footballing employers are positive the success of Khusanov and Shomurodov, who bets Roma in Italy, can be replicated.More than a 3rd of the country’s 35 million individuals are under the age of 20– a huge skill pool waiting to be coached. “It is very important to have a systemic approach to determining skill and choosing the best players who will become well-known. The world will understand Uzbekistan thanks to our national group,”said coach Khaydarov.”Our dream is to see Uzbek players in the very best European clubs.” Advertisement- ‘Imagination’ -The nation has actually currently had splendor at the youth level, just recently winning the Asian U17 and U20 Cups and qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics.”The strength of Uzbek football depends on the combination of
play, strategy, passing and assaulting, “said Azamat Abduraimov, a former player and now coach.”Uzbek football has actually constantly been renowned for its imagination. We have constantly had good strikers and creative, technical midfielders.
However we lacked success due to the fact that we were weak in defence,”
he added.Centre-back Khusanov, who Abduraimov coached as a teen, has actually helped address that balance.Advertisement Lots of see 21-year-old winger Fayzullaev, who plays for CSKA Moscow and was voted Asia’s finest young player in 2023, as
the next Uzbek in line for a big cash move to Europe.His playing design has actually been compared to star Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who simply won the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain. For the nationwide team, getting approved for next year’s World Cup brings a brand-new set of challenges.Uzbekistan has actually never played a global match against a leading European side, and the majority of its young talent still do not have experience on the greatest stages.In Tashkent, advocate Otabek was relishing the action up.”I want to have strong opponents at the World Cup, I know at that there will be no weak ones there.” sk-bk/asy-jc/ea