Anatoly Antipin: ''It is motivating to develop a new direction in the country''

In his interview with the KFF press service, head coach Anatoly Antipin spoke about the previous Euro, the development of this discipline in the country, the upcoming international tournaments and his motivation.

- Anatoly, at the European Championships held in Krakow, Poland, the national team of Kazakhstan took third place, winning bronze. Congratulations to you and your team. Would you tell us, what are your impressions of the tournament, organisation and the team's performance?

- We first took part in the European Championship (2nd division) in February 2025 on our initiative the team was transferred from the Asian to the European League.

Definetely, the organisers prepared and provided everything necessary for a quality game process. The team played well, fulfilled all the tasks set, but individually not everyone was able to play their best.

We are working on our mistakes, and with the help of such events we make not one but several steps forward. Some of the players showed very high quality football.

It is worth mentioning Bolat Zhanykhan - a striker who scored 12 and 13 goals at the tournament, he lacked only one goal to become the top scorer of the tournament.

- How has been developed Blind Football in Kazakhstan in recent years? Which regions of Kazakhstan are most actively involved in this sports?

- Now the three most active regions of the country are Almaty city, Zhambyl region, and Almaty region. The geography of our sport is growing. One more new team from Astana joined in 2025. In general, there are five teams in the Championship.

We plan that from 2026 there will be seven. Now at the stage of formation there are teams from: Turkestan, Karaganda, Aktobe regions. One of the biggest events will take place in August, in Astana - Cup of Football Federation.

What other international tournaments will our team take part in?

- After the European Championship, we have been invited to the Nations Cup, which will be held in September this year in India. The strongest Asian and European teams will gather there.

- Our team has promoted to the top division of Euro-2026, which will be held in France. What do you expect from this tournament? And would you tell us about its format and the opponents you would be interested to play against?

- The top division of Euro-2026 is first of all another level of football, there are teams that at the national level have developed this sports for more than 20 years. The national team of Kazakhstan will oppose them, but previously we have only three times played in international tournaments.

We are not afraid, we are actively preparing for each opponent, now the team is in great shape on many factors, but we lose in speed and endurance, but we know where our weaknesses.

We want to play with everyone, unfortunately we have little game practice, unlike our opponents. I would like to play with the French national team, they are the reigning Paralympic champion, the top, unfortunately we can't see the level of the opponent's game on TV or from the sidelines, we need to play with them to understand the level of the strongest national team.

- What exactly motivates you to work in this area?

- I am motivated by the scale and the fact that I am representing my country on the international stage, that I am developing a new direction. Blind people are limited in social environment, but when they go on the field, it is already a sport, they become free, and this inspires me.

Moreover, I consider myself as a very strong coach. The Polish national team had a seven-man coaching staff, a headset, they played at home, but that didn't stop us from scoring four goals. We won in every aspect, technique, tactics, physical preparation, psychology.