Madiyar Kembilov: “The opponents in the Nations League are equally strong, but we aim for success”

According to the results of the draw, Kazakhstan got in Group 3 of the League C with the teams of Luxembourg, Armenia and Liechtenstein.

- What would you say about this group? How tough might be matches against teams from Luxembourg, Armenia and Liechtenstein?

- Our group looks pretty egual. Luxembourg is the favorite and will certainly be a strong opponent. However, the minimum goal for us should be to reach the second stage. I suppose we play equally with the Armenia and an unexpected “dark horse” in our group is Liechtenstein. Therefore, every game will be of great importance. We have already started to analyze our opponents. This year we closely followed the performances of Luxembourg in the Nations League, where they played in the same group with Sweden and Estonia. Luxembourg tied twice with the Estonians - 1:1 both home and away. It should be noted that Estonia is a tough team, and such results indicate a serious level of resistance for Luxembourg. Looking back at the last Nations League season, Luxembourg finished the group in third place, behind Lithuania and Turkey. In terms of points, all three teams scored the same number of points - five each, but because of additional indicators Luxembourg ended up in third place.

- What game features of each team in the group do you consider the most important for preparation?

- A lot will depend on how thoroughly we analyze the opponents' game. If we are already familiar with the game of the Armenian national team, we have a certain understanding of Luxembourg. Like their men's team, the Luxembourg women's national team has a rather strong squad. There are players of Portuguese and Bosnian origin, as well as several Brazilian women who have taken Luxembourg citizenship. Yes, their ranking is higher, but despite this, we will try our best and set the goal to reach the next stage.

- What goals do you set for the team in the Nations League, and what result would you consider successful?

- I think that reaching the next round will be a real success for us. Our goal, as I said before, is something we have to strive for. We started to try last year, and this year we gradually got used to the Nations League. Now it's time to move on: we need to at least qualify for the second round.

- How fit is your team now and what areas need the most attention in preparation?

- This is a really important question. Having completed the national team games in July, now we will only play in February. We have two games scheduled from February 19 to 26. The championship ended on October 3 or 4, so the pause will be almost five months. We will have to work intensively on the players' physical shape and restore the game connections. It is important to prepare them not only physically, but also psychologically. We realize that we have to wotk hard at the training camp to approach the first official games in good shape and show a high level.