Ivan Azovskiy: “Young players who have proven themselves in Premier League matches have been included in the extended squad.”
“An extended list of 36 players has been announced. This is not just a list of 36 players — these are players we have been monitoring since the FIFA Series tournament.
It is no coincidence that several young new candidates have been included – Zhasulan Amir, Maksat Abrayev and Magzhan Toktybay, who have deservedly impressed in Premier League matches. Many of them come off the bench, others play full matches, and they are performing well.
Abrayev, for example, is still young, but his performance indicators show that he is already at the level of top Premier League players. That is why we want to assess these players more closely. The final squad for the training camp is still to be decided.
We hope they can maintain this level and stay in contention. The final squad will be announced around two weeks before the training camp, but until then we will keep a close eye on all candidates and discuss each of them as a coaching staff together with Talgat Maruanovich.
We attend matches together and, in a way, analyze players in real time as a coaching staff. Therefore, no one is included in the squad by chance – even in the extended list.
It’s also a positive that we’ll hold the training camp in Shymkent and train on natural grass, as the matches in Yerevan and Debrecen will also be played on grass pitches,” Azovskiy said.
