Tajikistan wrestles with football fever after Asian Cup exploits
DOHA: Tajikistan’s national sport is traditional wrestling but the poorest country in the former Soviet Union is now just two wins away from football’s Asian Cup final. The Central Asian nation are making their debut in the tournament and coach Petar Segrt said there were “no limits” after beating the United Arab Emirates on penalties in the last 16.
On Friday in Qatar they face Jordan in the quarter-finals, something few outside the world’s 106thranked team expected before the competition began. Alovidin Buriev, a commentator for Tajikistan’s TV Varzish and who has reported on football for over 35 years, said the players were “already heroes”.
“Until this Asian Cup, we didn’t have stars. Now all our players are stars,” he told AFP in Doha. “In our last five games we have been very, very good. Our national team doesn’t play like that.” Land-locked Tajikistan is bordered by Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China. It gained independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union and has been led by 71-year-old President Emomali Rahmon for over 30 years. His regime has been criticized by rights organizations for restricting freedoms and cracking down on the opposition. Rahmon’s eldest son Rustam has played a key role in the development of football in the country of about 10 million people.
He helped found Istiklol, a club based in the capital Dushanbe, in 2007 and he even played for them as a striker. Istiklol have since gone on to win the Tajikistan Higher League for the past 10 seasons. An expanded Asian Champions League has also allowed Istiklol, who have 10 players in Tajikistan’s 26-man Asian Cup squad, to make a splash outside their own country.
In 2021 they pulled off a 4-1 win over Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal, who have won the Champions League a record four times and last summer signed Brazilian Neymar and a host of other top international players. “This was the first time that Istiklol had the chance to play these sort of teams, so to go there and win 4-1 was a massive accomplishment,” said Martin Lowe, a football writer for website The Asian Game.
Lowe says the Tajikistan national team have made “a gradual improvement” over the past few years. But their progress has exploded at the Asian Cup under the leadership of larger-than-life coach Segrt, who was not always universally popular. The charismatic Croat has fostered a family spirit, saying “the most important thing is to make harmony between people”. The team were stunned when star striker Manuchekhr Dzhalilov was diagnosed with cancer late last year, and again when midfielder Amirbek Dzhuraboev was ruled out of the Asian Cup through injury. In keeping with his family ethos, Segrt has brought both players to Qatar to cheer on the team. But defender Zoir Dzhuraboev — Amirbek’s brother — says there is more to the coach than just charity. “Of course our coach is very positive, very kind,” he said. “But he knows what time he has to be totally friendly and kind, and what time he has to be hard and strict towards us.” — AFP