In the world of sports, the rivalry between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan athletes has always attracted fans, experts, and representatives of the sports community. Recently, significant growth in sports has been observed in Central Asian countries.
Among the Central Asian countries, Uzbek football has become a leader. Representatives of Kazakh football emphasize that they need to follow the path Uzbekistan has taken in developing the "game of millions," considering the international successes of our compatriots.
- Uzbekistan is just one step away from qualifying for the World Cup. Our neighbors, who played to a 2:2 draw against the hosts in Iran, have increased their points to 17, rising to a level that Qatar cannot reach and leaving the United Arab Emirates four points behind.
To officially secure a spot in the World Cup, the Uzbekistan national team needs just one victory or to avoid losing to the UAE in the upcoming match in June.
The Kazakhstan national team has faced the Uzbeks seven times, winning once. That victory was 30 years ago. In three matches, there have been draws and victories for the opponents. The goal ratio is 4:10 in favor of the Uzbeks.
The Uzbekistan U-16 national team played in the final of the Asian Championship in 2010 and won this tournament two years later.
Players under 20 years old have participated in the World Cup four times representing Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan has participated once in the youth World Cup – in 1999.
The efforts made to develop football in Uzbekistan are yielding results, - wrote the sportarena.kz website.
Ali Aliyev, acting head coach of the Kazakhstan national team, commented on his players' game against Liechtenstein and also evaluated the football of neighboring countries.
- We won, but the game left two different impressions. Our neighbors – Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are showing serious results, while our national team could not make a single shot on goal in the first half.
Kyrgyzstan defeated Qatar, and Uzbekistan is very close to qualifying for the World Cup, - said Ali Aliyev, who is managing the Kazakhstan national team.
Maxim Jalmagambetov, a former player of the Kazakhstan national team, also expressed warm thoughts about Uzbek players.
- I positively assess the successes of Uzbek footballers. I watched their match against Iran in full. This is a benchmark for Central Asian countries.
Because this situation reflects what our neighbors have done to develop football in the last 20 years. Therefore, their qualification for the World Cup will be logically justified. I know how their football academies and national team institute are functioning.
These successes are achieved through hard work, not by chance. No one has reached this level by accident before. Everything does not happen at once; rather, it takes time, - said Maxim Jalmagambetov.
Uzbekistan will play its last two matches of the third round of the regional qualifying tournament for the World Cup in June against Qatar in Tashkent and the UAE away.
