Rivaldo in Bunyodkor?!

After all the rumours concerning Samuel Eto'o and his move to Bunyodkor, formerly known as Kuruvchi, and then signing of Luizao, ASInfo informed that Rivaldo terminated his AEK Athens contract and signed for Bunyodkor. However, the official site of the Uzbek club says nothing about it. Is it real or is it just another marketing game?

Source: pilkanozna.pl

New international signing joins Uzbek league

After failing to secure Samuel Eto'o's transfer, PFC Bunyodkor continue looking for reinforcements who can at the same time provide media attention. The newest discovery is Luizao, ex-Brazilian youth national team player. The 21-year-old defender will face tough competition in the center of Bunyodkor's defence, with experienced Gochguliev and Ashurmatov as rivals.

Source: pfc-kuruvchi.com

Record streak for Pakhtakor!

After the 6:1 win against Sugdiyona in the Oliy Liga, reigning champions Pakhtakor set a new record. This game was the 47th one in a row without a loss for the cotton pickers. The goals were scored by Magdeev (2), Z. Tadzhiev (3), Pinto. Zayniddin Tadzhiev is now the top scorer for Pakhtakor, with 9 goals. Bunyodkor is still 5 points ahead of Pakhtakor but the reigning champions have one game in hand.

Source: pakhtakor.uz/pfc-kuruvchi.com

New stadium in Tashkent

After the visit of Joan Laporta in Tashkent, a new stadium was set to be built in the capital of Uzbekistan. The new arena will have a capacity of 35000 people and will work as Budyonkor ground. The team has also signed a deal with FC Barcelona by which they will have a chance to train at the Catalan club's facilities and play a friendly between the teams. Until the stadium is built, Budyonkor will continue playing at the MHSK ground.

Source: the-afc.com

BIG DERBY :: Bunyodkor - Pakhtakor

Three-year-old PFC Bunyodkor (formerly known as Kuruvchi) drew 1:1 in a big derby of Tashkent against the legendary Pakhtakor team. What is more, Bunyodkor was a better team and this draw can be treated as a loss of 2 points. They lost a goal in additional time of the second half and Server Djeparov missed a penalty earlier. What is more, Pakhtakor played with one man less as Ismailov was sent of in the 77th minute. Goals were scored by Villanueva (8, B) and Tojiev (92, P). To my surprise, Murad Zukhurov took Pavel Bugalo's place in goal in this match. 18210 people watch the game.








Source: pfc-kuruvchi.com/pakhtakor.uz

Great derby tonight!

In the shade of the Beijing Summer Olympics, the great derby will take place tonight. I am of course talking about Pakhtakor - Bunyodkor match in Uzbek Oliy Liga. Last three matches ended in a draw and if tonight's game also ends like this, Bunyodkor will be pretty sure of their championship dream coming true. However, with only two points separating the teams it is still possible for Pakhtakor to jump ahead of the club sponsored by Neftgazmontaj. Bunyodkor will be double-motivated as their new affiliate club FC Barcelona sent their chairman Joan Laporta to watch the match. Maybe Server Djeparov will finally seal his European move? On the other hand Pakhtakor will do their best to retain the title. Big game is expected, so you're all welcome to MHSK Stadium in Tashkent.



Source: pfc-kuruvchi.com/pakhtakor.uz/blaugrana.pl/soccerway.com

Pakhtakor '79 Memorial Tournament

Remembering the Dniprodzerzhynsk tragedy of 1979 when the whole squad of Pakhtakor Tashkent died, the club decided to organize a memorial tournament to honor the victims. The eight participating teams were split into two groups. Group A consists of Pakhtakor, RShVSMF, Andizhan and Chilanzar. The second group will see the rivalry of RKOR, DYuSSh-16, Tashkent Oblast Team and Yangier.



Source: pakhtakor.uz/youtube.com

Kuruvchi is NO MORE!

Yesterday the Tashkent-based club by the name of Kuruvchi abandoned their name which they acquired in 2005 when they were founded. After winning the semi-final of the Uzbek Cup against AGMK Almalik, the board of PFC decided to change the name of the club to Bunyodkor. The reasons for this had been stated by Tavakkal Kadyrovich, vice-president of the club:

"Kuruvchi founded in middle of 2005 and in the beginning club had an amateur status. At the beginning club was found for members one of our structures for worker-builders and to visit football matches when they had a free time and to watch beautiful matches and share victory of their team together and relax their nerves after hard work. In a word we tried to organize for them spare time and I think with the given task we completely satisfied. In each year Kuruvchi grows to the top with high progress. In a short time we have progressed and conquered high positions in Uzbekistan but in Asia too. Progressing in sport results we reached to a level which should satisfied in modern professional football club. Taking into account all stage of changes and novelties in the history of our club we decided to rename club to Bunyodkor"




Kuruvchi/Bunyodkor were not the only ones who progressed to the Uzbek Cup final. The others were their rivals Pakhtakor, who crushed Neftchi Ferghana 3:0.

Source: pfc-kuruvchi.com/the-afc.com

Eto'o's trip to Tashkent continued

Well Sammy Eto'o have not signed a contract with Kuruvchi yet, but the case is not lost. He played in a reserve team's match and scored a goal for Kuruvchi, but still considers other offers from different clubs. It seems the saga will continue and we will keep on bringing new reports. This is what Eto'o said:

"There is an offer from Kuruvchi which is why I am here in Tashkent…that and to get to know the people and the interesting things about this country. (...) I want to say that I have offers from other clubs and the decision I make will be the right one for me. (...) I have made a deal with the Vice President of Kuruvchi, Tavakkal Isomilov, that when I make the decision he will be the first to know."

Source: uzdaily.com

Eto'o landed in Tashkent

Despite Barcelona directos laughed off the news, Samuel Eto'o really came to Tashkent and will take part in a press conference at 12:30 CET. He is about to sign a contract with current Uzbek league leaders PFC Kuruvchi. The Cameroonian star was greeted by his Uzbek fans on Tashkent International Airport today.





Source: pfc-kuruvchi.com

Samuel Eto'o joins Kuruvchi!

Now THAT's called a shocking move. Kuruvchi bought Villanueva and Saipa answered with Hossein Kaebi. Now the Uzbek side loaned Barcelona star Samuel Eto'o for six months in order to help the team in their AFC Champions' League campaign. What will be Saipa's answer? Cristiano Ronaldo? We'll see. Anyway, we have the first real worldwide superstar in the Uzbek league. I wonder what the result of this transfer will be. Will he adapt to Uzbek life quickly? Or will he find it tough in Uzbekistan? We are about to see.

Source: uzdaily.com/pfc-kuruvchi.com

Game on top unresolved

In the game of the season in Uzbekistan Pakhtakor drew 1:1 with Kuruvchi and maintained two-point gap between the two, with Kuruvchi as leaders. With almost 25000 people watching the big game, Kuruvchi won the lead in the 31st minute after a strike of their new star Jose Luis Villanueva. The result remained unchanged until the end of the first half. During the break, Alexander Geynrikh came on for Tadjiev and soon had a chance to equalize, but missed a penalty in the 50th minute. Seven minutes later, he finally scored. The final result: 1:1 and the question who's better in Uzbekistan remains unresolved.

Squads:

Pakhtakor: Nesterov - Aliqulov, Inomov, Suyonov, Ismailov - Kiryan (Fabio Pinto 46'), Ahmedov, Marković, Magdeev - Tadjiev (Geynrikh 46', Abdullaev 90'), Uche

Kuruvchi: Bugalo - Gochguliev, Karimov, Khvostunov - Villanueva, Soliev, Karpenko, Haydarov, Nikolaev - Kapadze, Djeparov

In the game of the reserves, Pakhtakor won 3:0 by the goals of Kholmuhamedov, Kilishev and Zhikhov.

Source: pakhtakor.uz

Saipa answers Kuruvchi's strengthenings

After Kuruvchi signed Jose Luis Villanueva, their AFC Champions' League quarter-finals rivals Saipa answered with the sealing of signatures of two players: the famous Hossain Kaebi - one of the fastest players in the world and Abbas Aghayee from Perspolis. There are also rumours that Saipa will sign Iranian international goalkeeper Ebrahim Mirzapour and a 20-year-old hot prospect Mohammad Parvin from Perspolis - a son of the legendary Ali Parvin.

Meanwhile, Kuruvchi will play the game of the season tonight when they meet Pakhtakor on their difficult ground.

Source: the-afc.com/pfc-kuruvchi.com

NEWS OF THE DAY: Chilean international joins Kuruvchi!

It's not a dream no more - Uzbek teams started signing really good players. After Marković joined Pakhtakor in winter, now their rivals from Kuruvchi beat this effort and signed Jose Luis Villanueva - 4 times capped Chilean international - from Universidad Catolica. Among others, he 27-year-old used to play in Argentina for Racing Club and for Vasco in Brazil. Moreover, he is a journalist and a devoted globetrotter, so it dosn't really surprise me that he chose this destination. Tashkent is shining bright on the map of the football cities with the greatest potential for the future. Now Villanueva will team-up with the likes of Djeparov, Kapadze and Bakaev in the AFC Champions' League campaign.

Source: the-afc.com/wikipedia.org

Another win for Kuruvchi

Kuruvchi maintained their winning streak with crushing Sogdiana Jizzakh 5:0 last matchday. Two goals were scored by both Server Djeparov and Anvar Soliev and one by Azizbek Haydarov. In the second important match, Pakhtakor won 2:0 (Geynrikh, Ismailov) against Nasaf Karshi. The top thus is unchanged, with two points separating Kuruvchi and Pakhtakor.

Source: the-afc.com

Kuruvchi maintain lead

Uzbek league last year's surprise package and this year's AFC Champions League revelation - Kuruvchi - maintained their lead in the domestic league after beating a strong opposition of Ma'shal Mubarek 2:0 with goals scored by Server Djeparov and Viktor Karpenko. The vice-leaders from Pakhtakor also recorded a two-goal victory over Bukhara. After 16 matches Kuruvchi sit comfortable at the top of the league with 34 points. Pakhtakor are second with 32. The rest are over 10 points behind the leading duo.

Source: the-afc.com/soccerway.com

2010 World Cup AFC Qualifiers final round drawn

Finally we know the final groups of the Asian zone of the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers. Two best teams from each group will advance to the World Cup finals in South Africa, the third teams will play each other in a continental play-off and the winner of this meeting will play an intercontinental play-off with the winner of the OFC zone qualifiers.

Group A:
Australia
Japan
Bahrain
Uzbekistan
Qatar

Group B:
South Korea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
North Korea
United Arab Emirates

Source: the-afc.com

Transfer rumor

What a great news came from Slovakia! After Uzbek Aziz Ibragimov joined Slovan Bratislava some time ago, it's time for another Asian underdogs to make it to the Corgon Liga. FK Dubnica are reported to be interested in two Maldivian players: Ali Ashfaag and Mohammed Arif.

Ali Ashfaag is a 23-year-old striker who plays in a domestic club VB SC, but have already had a foreign experience, having played for Malaysian league outfit DPMM FC.

The second player - Mohammed Arif is Ashfaag's teammate on the club level and a midfielder.

Let's watch those guys progress in the European football ranks. I hope other countries will follow Slovakia's example and I'll be happy to inform you about further Asian players being transferred to Europe.

Source: goal.com/national-football-teams.com