Islam Karimov: The level of foreign teams in the "Ulduz Cup" was very high

"The level of teams from other countries was high at the II International "Ulduz Cup" tournament held in Guba."

Idman.biz reports that this was stated by Islam Karimov, coordinator for the lower age groups of "Neftchi", in his statement to "Report".

The expert shared his impressions about winning the tournament: "12 teams participated in the II "Ulduz Cup" tournament. 8 of them represented other countries. Azerbaijan was represented by 4 teams. The teams were divided into 3 groups. "Neftchi" was in the same group C with "Shakhtyor" (Kazakhstan), "Pakhtakor" (Uzbekistan) and "Sabah" (Azerbaijan). In the first match, our team drew with "Shakhtyor" (1:1) and "Sabah" (0:0), and defeated "Pakhtakor" with a score of 1:0. In the semi-finals, "Neftchi" competed with "Dinamo" (Tbilisi, Georgia). After 11-meter penalty kicks, the team advanced to the final and competed with "Pakhtakor". In the final, our team won with a score of 5:4 and won gold medals. Elmar Abbasli, who was chosen as the best goalkeeper of the tournament, saved a record number of 7 penalty kicks in total."

He emphasized the level of the opponents: "The level of teams from other countries was very high. I would especially like to mention the representatives of Georgia and Uzbekistan. I would even say that "Pakhtakor" was at a higher level than "Dinamo". Football is developing in Uzbekistan. The country's main team qualified for the final stage of the World Championship. Children's football is also developing rapidly in Uzbekistan."

It should be noted that "Neftchi" defeated "Pakhtakor" with a score of 5:4 in the penalty shootout in the final of the II International "Ulduz Cup" tournament.

Idman.biz