“Bunyodkor” together with Croatia wants to introduce innovations in Uzbek football

Bunyodkor, one of the youngest football clubs in the country and a player of millions, is often compared to the spring of Uzbek football. Described as a home for young talent, the Swallows are indeed the bright future of Uzbek football. In the eyes of the football community, "Bunyodkor" is a club that is always striving for innovation, implementing new ideas in Uzbek football ... The first decade of June will be written in golden letters in the history of Bunyodkor football club: a large delegation of Bunyodkor FC about 70 people visited Croatia. As a result of long negotiations with Croatian football officials last year with the support of the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to our country Refik Shabanovic, three teams of FC "Bunyodkor" (U11, U13 and U14) in the first week of summer competition - Dalmatinko Cup. And it should be noted that despite the fact that for the first time among the clubs of Uzbekistan "discovered" Croatia with their visits, the tournament was well attended by students of all three age groups.

From the day Bunyodkor received an offer to participate in the traditional Dalmatinko Cup, which has been held in this beautiful country in the Balkans for many years, the Chairman of the Board of Uzbekneftegaz, President of Bunyodkor Football Club, O. Mehriddin Abdullaev, a member of the Executive Committee of the Football Association of Uzbekistan, closely supported the initiative: “We will create all conditions for Bunyodkor's young teams to play in the tournament. After all, the participation of our talented young players in these competitions will serve to further develop the system of children's and youth football in our country. Our young people, who are considered to be our future, are entering the world of European football, which has the highest reputation today. The more we can provide our children with such an interesting and useful game practice, the more this experience will become an important part of the strategy for the development of children's and youth football in Uzbekistan. Only then will there be more and stronger candidates for our national teams. The trip to Croatia will open a wide range of opportunities for our young players' coaches to gain invaluable experience from their European counterparts. And, of course, as a result, we are pleased to announce that the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh.M. We will ensure the implementation of the tasks outlined in the decree on the development of our country's youth football system in cooperation with Croatia.

The Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan states the following important words: “When analyzing the experience of developed countries, we can see that in most cases, football clubs are formed as a business structure by training young people as professional players.
For example, Croatia, which is close to Uzbekistan in terms of football development prospects, has undergone dramatic changes in the field of football over the past decade, with countries such as England, France, Italy, Spain and Germany. reached the level of competition.
Skilled athletes trained in Croatian football academies have joined the ranks of football clubs in developed countries. This will help Croatia to develop its football academies by nurturing talented players, increase the country's income and increase the interest of the players and their families. ”

Similarly, in the Dalmatinko Cup-2022, Bunyodkor's players competed with their peers studying at local football academies in Croatia. They had the opportunity to compare the pace of their growth and development as young players with the young Croatians, and to create the conditions for them to adopt the latest methods and techniques in modern youth football.
The tournament was held in a total of 10 age groups. About 200 teams from 13 countries and more than 3,500 young players took part in the annual tournament. The geography of participants is very wide: Croatia, Uzbekistan, Slovenia, Macedonia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Hungary, Albania, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc. “Bunyodkor-2008” (U14) and “Bunyodkor-2009” (U13) suffered painful defeats in the quarterfinals. “Bunyodkor-2008” under the coach of Miraziz Mirzaakhmedov has three victories and one draw in the group. In particular, he defeated one of the strongest academies in Croatia, "Hayduk" (Split) with a score of 1: 0. However, in the next round - in the quarterfinals, despite a two-point lead in the main period against the club "Primorats", in the end ended in a draw - 2: 2. He then lost to the opponent in the penalty shootout (2: 4).

After the group stage, Bunyodkor-2009, led by Alisher Ibragimov, reached the 1/8 finals. In the quarterfinals, our team met with the strongest academy in the country, the sixth in the world and the third in Europe - "Dynamo" (Zagreb). Our players fought equally with the famous opponent. No account was opened at the meeting. And, unfortunately, this time the hosts won the penalty shootout - 7: 8.
“Bunyodkor-2011”, the youngest team of our team - Gulom Halimtoev, was the most successful. They reached the final. But in the end they lost to Slovenian Domjale. But for the first time, the 2nd place should be considered as a very good result. In this way, they became the winners of the second place trophy. For the first time, we think it is possible to evaluate the results of all three teams well. Especially, playing on an equal footing with the students of the famous Croatian academies, our U13 and U14 teams also proved that we will not lag behind the Croats in these age groups.

Another most memorable event of the trip to Europe for the kids took place on June 6th. The finalists of the last World Cup - the national teams of Croatia and France - competed on the same day in the UEFA Nations League tournament at the Polyud Stadium in Split. Our children watched the performances of world meter players such as Zlatko Dalic and Dide Desham - Domagoy Vida, Luka Modric, Benjamin Pavar, Adrien Rabo, Antoine Griezmann and many others. Undoubtedly, it gave them great pleasure, universal impressions, unforgettable moments.
The fathers of our young players Azizbek Kudratov and Sanjar Salimjanov, who were part of the Bunyodkor delegation, shared their impressions of the trip:
- Finally, our children enjoyed the atmosphere of European football. The trip to Croatia was well organized by Bunyodkor. Going to such countries was a dream for our children. The tournament is organized at a very high level. In addition to participating in live games, our boys improved their sports skills there, made many new friends, had a meaningful and fun time, and went on excursions around Split. They had a good time on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, swimming in the sea. On behalf of all parents, we would like to express our deep gratitude to the President of Bunyodkor Mehriddin Razzakovich Abdullayev for creating such conditions for young players.

The management of Bunyodkor has agreed with the tournament organizers that the teams of our academy will participate in the Dalmatinko Cup on a regular basis, ie every year. It was also agreed to invite Croatian teams to Uzbekistan.
In addition, during the trip, a group of specialists of FC "Bunyodkor" visited Zagreb and got acquainted with the famous club "Dynamo". They got acquainted with the infrastructure, activities, business model and strategy of the club "Dynamo". And most importantly, an agreement has been reached with the management of FC "Dinamo" to send 4-5 young players from "Bunyodkor" to the youth teams for training and testing.