Gulf News
November 2

The UAE juniors will have a lot to ponder on and learn following the 1-1 draw which their senior team suffered against 'lowly' Turkmenistan in the Asian Cup qualifiers last week.

For one, they will surely be wiser to know that they shouldn't be underestimating any of their opponents, irrespective of their previous record.

Uzbekistan is one such side which has made it to the FIFA World Youth Championship to be held in the UAE between November 27-December 19.

Unheard of in footballing circles, Uzbekistan will enter their games in Group B of the competition as the odd one out. Moreso when their group mates happen to be teams like four-time champions Argentina and Spain.

However, teams better take notice of these rank outsiders, moreso after their narrow 1-0 victory against hosts India at the Afro-Asian Games which concluded in Hyderabad on Friday.

But despite this, the Uzbeks will enter the Emirates 2003 stage as little known outsiders. And this will suit them well, given their thinking of approaching the game.

The Uzbeks will be only too keen to make an impact on the world stage with some big kills. And the advantage they will have is that they will be playing with with minimum pressure.

Couple the lack of pressure with an attacking attitude and we have a potentially explosive team. This aspect too has been so supremely evident when Uzbekistan had a record of 33 goals scored in their nine matches of the qualifying rounds. And to cap it all, the Uzbeks do not lack ambition.

Forget the world stage, Uzbekistan does not even occur prominently on the continental stage - not when one has teams like Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea present in the competition.

Uzbekistan booked their place for Emirates 2003 after finishing fourth in the AFC qualifiers.

But success has not come easy for this Central Asian country, which was affiliated to FIFA only nine years back in 1994. Ever since they came under the world umbrella it has been one long road of hard work for the Uzbeks.

So serious have they been about their soccer that they have even recruited designer A. Alikulov to design a set of seven postal stamps depicting soccer players in action!

The results have just about started to show at the continental stage when Pakhtakor jingled their way to the semifinals of the inaugural version of the AFC Champions League earlier this year.

Attack is definitely the main weapon of the Pakhtakor and Uzbekistan team. There have been no secrets, but Pakhtakor and Uzbek soccer is progressing hand in hand.

Some of the top stars have been plying their trade outside Uzbekistan. Ilyas Zeytulayev is making an impression with Juventus, while Alexander Geynrikh is with CSKA Moscow.

The planning is definitely future centred. Their coach is a 47-year-old German, Heinz-Jurgen Geode, who is keen to take the Uzbeks to his home country for the 2006 World Cup.

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