kozim
10-19-2001, 05:40 PM
Friday, October 19, 2001, 7:15 UZ
The hope for qualification of the Uzbek national team to the World Cup 2002 ended following torturous loss to Oman with a 2-4. Gathering most experience players to the team, the head coach Salkov could not reach the goal rather, and he burst out at the end as UFF sacked him: ‘This is a tragedy. I put all blames on my own shoulders. I am blameworthy in front of the Uzbek fans. There are plenty of reasons for our inability in utilizing potential opportunities. I did not believe in efficiency of local players. I did not listen to suggestions of famous football specialists of Uzbekistan as long as I wanted to solve everything on my own. I regret… We had to qualify with these players’.
Many had expected resignation of Salkov following the loss to UAE at home but unruffled coach kept his promise to take the team to the WC finals. Salov said: ‘Telling you truth, now I feel ashamed to look at the eyes of fans. I would withdraw if we lose to Qatar but we played with a draw which kept my hopes…’
Uzbekistan lost the desired results mostly to Salkov’s surprising substitutions. When Uzbekistan was winning Qatar, he replaced a playmaker Qosimov with Akopyants. And it was Akopyants who helped out Qatar to get a point with his offence near the Uzbek penalty spot from where Qatar equalized the score. And the team without playmaker stuck onto defense. In the latest match against Oman, Salkov continued his unexpected decision to surprise all as he replaced key forward player Shatskih with Akopyants. Uzbekistan remained with only one forward player Irismetov, while Akopyants continued to fire repeatedly uncertain shots. ‘It was unjustifiable mistake of mine to replace Shatskih following which Oman achieved their goal’, coach admitted as it was too late. Ostroushko, the former assistant coach to Salkov was assigned head coach to Uzbekistan for the time being.
As the legend proved to never happen, the general secretary Rahimov revealed to focus on the local championship from where, he regards, to start everything. ‘Next year 16 clubs will participate in the Premier League. If we don’t strengthen our clubs, we don’t need to expect good results from our team in international arena. There are a lot of talented players we need to discover. Currently we are working on new program which will be shaped in near future to prepare for upcoming matches’, said Rahimov. But can new strategy work in Uzbek championship is doubtful. Rahimov decleared to lessen the number of clubs early this year but the governers of provinces proved more authoritative as they succeeded to keep club of their provinces or cities in the Premier League. The most of the clubs in the League owned and managed by them. Hense, today it is not surprise to see a second league club all of sudden in the Premier League. This system remains the number one problem in Uzbek football.
The hope for qualification of the Uzbek national team to the World Cup 2002 ended following torturous loss to Oman with a 2-4. Gathering most experience players to the team, the head coach Salkov could not reach the goal rather, and he burst out at the end as UFF sacked him: ‘This is a tragedy. I put all blames on my own shoulders. I am blameworthy in front of the Uzbek fans. There are plenty of reasons for our inability in utilizing potential opportunities. I did not believe in efficiency of local players. I did not listen to suggestions of famous football specialists of Uzbekistan as long as I wanted to solve everything on my own. I regret… We had to qualify with these players’.
Many had expected resignation of Salkov following the loss to UAE at home but unruffled coach kept his promise to take the team to the WC finals. Salov said: ‘Telling you truth, now I feel ashamed to look at the eyes of fans. I would withdraw if we lose to Qatar but we played with a draw which kept my hopes…’
Uzbekistan lost the desired results mostly to Salkov’s surprising substitutions. When Uzbekistan was winning Qatar, he replaced a playmaker Qosimov with Akopyants. And it was Akopyants who helped out Qatar to get a point with his offence near the Uzbek penalty spot from where Qatar equalized the score. And the team without playmaker stuck onto defense. In the latest match against Oman, Salkov continued his unexpected decision to surprise all as he replaced key forward player Shatskih with Akopyants. Uzbekistan remained with only one forward player Irismetov, while Akopyants continued to fire repeatedly uncertain shots. ‘It was unjustifiable mistake of mine to replace Shatskih following which Oman achieved their goal’, coach admitted as it was too late. Ostroushko, the former assistant coach to Salkov was assigned head coach to Uzbekistan for the time being.
As the legend proved to never happen, the general secretary Rahimov revealed to focus on the local championship from where, he regards, to start everything. ‘Next year 16 clubs will participate in the Premier League. If we don’t strengthen our clubs, we don’t need to expect good results from our team in international arena. There are a lot of talented players we need to discover. Currently we are working on new program which will be shaped in near future to prepare for upcoming matches’, said Rahimov. But can new strategy work in Uzbek championship is doubtful. Rahimov decleared to lessen the number of clubs early this year but the governers of provinces proved more authoritative as they succeeded to keep club of their provinces or cities in the Premier League. The most of the clubs in the League owned and managed by them. Hense, today it is not surprise to see a second league club all of sudden in the Premier League. This system remains the number one problem in Uzbek football.