Today, the Uzbekistan National Team will compete against the Kyrgyz Republic in the "WC-2026" qualifiers. Ahead of this match, we explored the opinions of the football community, particularly journalists, bloggers, and players.
Below are the pre-match thoughts of renowned football blogger Jamoliddin Bobojonov:
- I expect a reliable performance from the Uzbekistan national team. We need to show the difference between Uzbek and Kyrgyz football with our game, not just in the score. In the match in Bishkek, we left the impression that "if we play like Uzbeks, we can play evenly." We need to shatter that impression. Not only should the Kyrgyz Republic not think about defeating us, but teams with weaker football should not even dream of it.
I am not saying this by belittling Kyrgyz football. Their football is growing. In recent years, their football, infrastructure, and government attention have made it one of the rapidly developing countries in Asia. Nevertheless, there is a significant difference between the football of the two countries.
Whether it's Germany vs. Austria or France vs. Belgium, games between neighbors are always tough. The aspect of neighboring rivalry plays a role. The gap narrows, and the so-called weaker team desires to win over its stronger neighbor even more. The same motivation exists in the Kyrgyz Republic. This is their weapon.
A quick goal is very important for Uzbekistan. If we score first by the 15th minute and continue to play aggressively, we could win today's match by a large margin.
My predicted score is 3:0. It doesn't matter which of our players scores the goals.
