Borat, the Astana cycling team, Borat, the Aral Sea, Borat, its uranium, the reasons to talk about Kazakhstan are few and this country on the way between Europe and Asia, between Urals and Altai has ‘a rather vague image of the general public. Coming back to its football, it remains quite marginal compared to other countries, even if only at the level of the former USSR. Russia and Ukraine are strong nations on a European scale, while Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan’s neighbor and rival, is an emerging star of Asian football. When it comes to Kazakh football, its history is special. Accustomed to playing within the Soviet national team until the country’s independence in 1992, Kazakhstan participated in the qualifiers for the 1998 and 2002 World Cups as well as the 1996 and 2000 Asian Cups, but without success. Deciding, however, to join UEFA to progress with bigger nations, Kazakhstan has still not experienced the slightest competition, but its efforts are slowly being rewarded.
The rest after this ad
At club level, we have seen progress for a while like FK Astana qualified in the group stage of the 2015/2016 Champions League and which even held off Galatasaray twice while also obtaining draws against Atlético de Madrid and Benfica. The capital club is also a regular European guest and is playing in the Europa Conference League this season. In terms of selection, it took time to translate. Never getting involved in the fight for qualification for a major tournament, it is via the Nations League that the selection will progress. Placed in a group with Azerbaijan, Slovakia and Belarus during the last campaign, Kazakhstan quickly made a gap on the competition to finish in the lead with 4 victories, 1 draw and 1 defeat. A first glory in football 30 years after its independence for the selection of the Snow Leopards.
Read Euro 2024 Qualifiers: Kazakhstan defeats San Marino and can still believe in it
Led by coach Magomed Adiev since April 2022, Kazakhstan can count on a few star players playing in Russia like Nuray Alip (Zenit) and Marat Bystrov (Akhmat Grozny) or who have passed through this championship like Abat Aymbetov (ex Krylya Samara now in Astana) and Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov (ex CSKA Moscow now at Besiktas) who is the star of the team. With a few individualities, but above all a solid collective and a real offensive appetite, Kazakhstan has multiplied remarkable performances to ultimately write the most beautiful pages in its history with the ball. In a qualifying group made up of Denmark, Slovenia, Finland, Northern Ireland and San Marino, the Kazakhs were not favorites. Starting with a narrow 2-1 defeat against Slovenia while leading, the Snow Leopards completely overthrew Denmark in the next match. Led 2-0 by a double from Rasmus Hojlund, the Kazakhs scored three goals in the last twenty minutes including a gem from Askhat Tagybergen to win 3-2. Then 115th in the FIFA rankings, Kazakhstan had just scored the greatest victory in its history. And as they often say, success leads to other successes.
The rest after this ad
Twice defeating Northern Ireland by a short header (1-0 and 1-0) and San Marino (3-0 and 3-1), Kazakhstan also sought convincing success in Finland (2-1) to keep their dreams of qualifying intact. With his attacking duo Abat Aymbetov (7 goals) and Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov (5 goals), Magomed Adiev’s team has pushed its limits and finds itself third in its group, one point behind Slovenia before the final day. Facing the Slovenes on their land, the Snow Leopards intend to ferociously chase a ticket for what would be the first Euro in their history. “Today we needed a win and we didn’t care about anything else. Let them sort it out, let them say what they want. Three points. We are putting pressure on the leaders (Slovenia and Denmark) and believe me, it will not be easy for them to play today. We didn’t give anyone a gift. Let’s see what the result will be. Whatever result the Almighty sends us, we will accept it. But we will continue to do our heavy work there, and there, as I said, we will end it. Everything is in our hands, we have absolutely everything, guys” declared Magomed Adiev after the 3-1 victory against San Marino and before the Slovenian defeat against Denmark (2-1). Like Latvia in 2004, Iceland and Albania in 2016 or even North Macedonia in 2020, Kazakhstan has a good chance of being a surprise guest at Euro 2024. See you on Monday at 8:45 p.m. near Ljubljana for a match against Slovenia which will smell of sulfur…
Pub. 11/19/2023 10:10 p.m. Updated 11/19/2023 10:11 p.m.
2023-11-19 21:10:29
#Kazakhstan #gates #Euro #totally #unexpected #epic #Snow #Leopards
