Portuguese coach: "I'm really interested in Uzbek players, Shomurodov surprises me"

As readers of Sports.uz know, we often try to contact foreign experts and bring to their attention their views on Uzbek football. Because it is both interesting and important for us that foreign coaches analyze our attitudes, strengths, and weaknesses about Uzbek football. Of course, not all foreigners have enough information about us. To do this, he must first have a good knowledge of Asian football. The hero of today's article is an expert who has his own understanding of our continent, including football.

Mario Lemos was born in 1986 in Portugal. Despite being 36 years old now, he started coaching very early. Lemos, who first worked as a coach in his home country, later began working in Asia and still does. The Portuguese coach first spoke about himself.

"Yes, I started my coaching career in Portugal at a very young age. So far, I have been able to work in the United States. Later, I coached Negeri Sembilan in the Malaysian Super League. In Bangladesh, I coached Abahani and became the head coach of the national team."

Lemos has good experience working in Asia. That is why he has enough ideas about Uzbek football.

"I have been living and working in Asia for 10 years. That's why I often see news about Uzbek football. As a result, I will watch your football. To be honest, I am very interested in Uzbek players. Because they are very good players and can adapt to any style of play. I think that Uzbekistan is one of the most talented and highly rated national teams. Last season, FC Nasaf played in the AFC Cup. In addition, I was able to closely monitor the U-23 team's qualifying matches. I think I was able to see that this is a team full of both strong and high-quality players. I must also say that the players who are physically good play pure football. That is, they can play clean and beautiful football. At a high pace, they form a game by high pressure. This shows that the players are growing, they are able to do a lot, both physically and tactically," - said the Portuguese coach.

By the way, we remembered Portuguese Micael Sequeira who worked at the Uzbekistan championship last year, and we asked if Lemos knew him.

"Yes, I know very well who Micael Sequeira is. I don't know him personally, but I know that he leads Tashkent's Lokomotiv team and I follow his career life,” Lemos said.

During our meeting with Mario, we could not stop talking about Eldor Shomurodov, who played for FC Roma. The Portuguese specialist said the following about him:

"Of course, I watch his games a lot. I also remember Shomurodov's time at FC Genoa. This player impresses me a lot. He is tall and has great technique. In short, Eldor is a quality player."

In addition, Mario Lemos said that he knew other Uzbek players well, including:

"The first person that comes to mind is Odil Akhmedov. I watched several of his matches in Shanghai live. I also know Sanjar Shorakhmedov very well. For example, I can name Evgeny Kochnev, Saiddoston Fozilov, Asror Gafurov, Sirojiddin Rakhmatullaev - these are the teams that have been playing in the Bangladesh championship in recent seasons. Of course, the Uzbek championship has strong and good clubs. I want to lead the strongest league teams."

In world football, Messi and Ronaldo have amazed everyone. That's why their fans are divided at this time. 

- As a Portuguese, I always support Ronaldo. However, both players have been playing great games throughout their careers. It is very interesting to see that they play such high quality football at this age. I think they are still two of the strongest players in the world,” Lemos concluded.