The advisor to the president of “Pakhtakor” on sports issues, Maksym Shatskykh, gave an assessment of the game of star Uzbek footballers Abduqodir Khusanov from English “Manchester City” and Eldor Shomurodov from Italian “Roma” in an interview with Sports24.kz.
Maksym Shatskykh
— Maksym Oleksandrovych, as a legend of the Uzbekistan national team, what do you say about the game of Manchester City defender Abduqodir Khusanov? After the first match against Chelsea, in which he made a mistake at the beginning of the meeting, he gathered himself and became a key player for the “Citizens”.
— He didn't need to gather himself. Khusanov is that kind of person by nature. I was confident in him. All defenders make mistakes. Mistakes happen even with world-class defenders. After all, he made it to “Man City” and played against “Chelsea” right away. He made a mistake and that was it. But Khusanov is a person who won’t give up and won’t get upset. In terms of some game qualities, Abduqodir is quite stable and psychologically resilient. So I didn’t even doubt that he would have no problems going forward. And it turned out that he played the entire game quite evenly.
— Guardiola also speaks positively about Khusanov. Can we say that Pep and the English giant guessed right with the transfer?
— Of course, of course. At this moment, Khusanov is the future of “Man City” in defense. The “Citizens” did not make a mistake — that’s a thousand percent! Moreover, first and foremost, Khusanov is the future of Uzbek football. After all, the guy is only 20 years old. He still has everything ahead. And knowing him and what he is like, he is a top-level defender.
— And the Uzbekistan national team's forward Eldor Shomurodov became the best player of “Roma” in February. What do you say about the game of the Uzbek forward?
— Of course, this is a huge achievement! “Roma” is also not the last club in Europe. He hasn’t played for a long time, and in February he earned a place in the starting lineup. Eldor confirmed that the coach was right about him. He provided assists, scored a goal, and was beneficial to the team. I think Shomurodov deservedly became the best player of “Roma” in February. Moreover, this is very important ahead of the Uzbekistan national team's games. This is a great plus for him.
— Could Ranieri’s arrival have influenced Eldor’s game? With the experienced Italian, “Roma” has not lost for 11 matches in Serie A.
— Maybe! In principle, Shomurodov and Dovbyk are now the two main forwards of the Roman team. Ranieri is trying to rotate them somehow. In the match against “Como,” Dovbyk scored the winning goal. Ranieri is trying to give everyone playing practice and playing time. He understands that Dovbyk and Shomurodov are, give or take, two identical forwards. Why not? Why not conduct some rotation? Both the players will be satisfied, and the current result is acceptable. Normal things! I only welcome this.
Damir Koshechkin
