Courtesy: UEFA


Kairat an Almaty success

Friday, 10 March 2006

by Pavle Gognidze & Timur Kamashev

The Kazakh word Kairat means 'might' or 'energy'. That is an apt name for the club that has caught the imagination of all football followers in Kazakhstan, UEFA's newest member.

European entry
The former Soviet republic is the size of western Europe and borders China. It joined European football's governing body in 2002, having previously competed in Asia. Since the switch, early exits for their clubs in continental competition have been the norm. But in this season's UEFA Futsal Cup, Kairat Almaty have bucked the trend and this week took on MFK Dinamo Moskva in the semi-finals.

Kairat run
In only their second season in the tournament, Kairat cruised through the first qualifying round in Latvia, defeating hosts FK Raba Riga 6-1, Belarussian club FC Dorozhnik Minsk 4-1 and A.C.S. Odorheiu Secuiesc of Romania 8-2. But it was in the next stage, at the home of 2003/04 runners-up SL Benfica, that Kairat really grabbed the attention of the Futsal world.

Benfica humbled
Benfica were expected to claim one of the two semi-final places on offer, along with Spanish giants Boomerang Interviú. And when Benfica went 3-1 up against Kairat just after half-time in their opener, it seemed they would. But then Yuriy Butrin struck twice to complete a hat-trick, and the points were shared, to the delight of the noisy knot of several dozen Kairat fans who had made the 7,000-kilometre trip.

Kazakh celebrations
Kairat then lost 5-2 to Boomerang, but Benfica were held by Belgium's Cristal Noir MB Morlanwelz, meaning second place was still up for grabs. A 5-1 victory against Morlanwelz left Kairat knowing that they would be semi-finalists unless Benfica defeated Boomerang, and although the hosts were 2-0 up after five minutes, four unanswered goals for the Spanish champions sparked Kazakh celebrations. "Now Kairat are at least third [as losing semi-finalists]," declared club president Kairat Orazbekov. "This is an immense success for us. Yet now our aspirations have grown."

Brazilian arrivals
Kairat were only formed eleven years ago, and in 1999 they entered their nation's first professional Futsal league, finishing fifth and winning the Kazakhstan Cup, which they successfully defended a year later. By 2003/04 they were league champions, and retained the title last season as they made their European debut, helped by an influx from the Futsal world capital, Brazil. Former world champion Vaginho, club captain Etienne, Neto, Cacau and goalkeeper Gustavo all play under their compatriot coach Paolo Augusto, bolstered by locals including Butrin, the hero against Benfica, and Alexandr Bondarev, who helped Kazakhstan to the 2000 Asian Futsal final.

Instant sell-out
But even the latter honour did not project Futsal into the public imagination like Kairat's run. "We finished our new arena last year, but the amount of people who want to see this [semi-final] is way bigger than the 500 seats we have at our little stadium," Orazbekov said. The visit of Dinamo was moved to the 4,000-capacity Baluan Sholak Sport Palace, proving an instant sell-out. The venue replaced their ice-rink with a Futsal-friendly floor. Suddenly Almaty's favourite sports, ice hockey and curling, had to take a back seat to Futsal.

UEFA benefits
Kazakhstan Football Union general secretary Askar Akhmetov is understandably thrilled, not least with the interest from sponsors. He said. "Those are the first fruits of Kazakhstan's membership of UEFA, which of course is an advanced environment for progress. I would like to see the same happening with football in the near future."

'Massive' coverage
So yesterday, Almaty prepared itself for one of its biggest sporting occasions in recent years. Not only did the sports press give the game extensive coverage, but the general newspapers too. Even the national television news featured the match among its main stories - something Futsal could not have dreamt about before this season.

Defeat
Screened on free-to-air television in Kazakhstan, the game proved tough for Kairat, as the 2005 runners-up Dinamo, another Brazilib>an-infused side, won 3-0. Augusto said: "After conceding an early goal, we were too gung-ho with our approach. We committed too many men forward and often were uncovered in the back. If you add a total lack of luck in front of Dinamo's goal, then you get a picture as to why there was such a result."

Achievement
An upset in the return in Moscow on 24 March seems unlikely. But it is worth remembering that Kairat's stated goal for this season was simply to get past the first qualifying round. And for a nation whose previous best result in UEFA competition was probably FC Tobol Kostanay's run to the third round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2003, the magnitude of Kairat's achievement is clear.



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com