In Uzbek sports, there are not so many stars known outside the country, but some names will go down in history forever. One of such aces, Mirjalol Kasymov, is a football player from God, who has established himself not only as a great player on the field, but also as a professional coach. This person is loved at home, is known in Russia and in other states on the territory of the former USSR.
The beginning of the way
On September 17, 1970, a boy was born in one of the families of Tashkent. They called him Mirjalol Kushakovich Kasymov. He determined his path in childhood, taking up football, and at the age of 14 he played in the youth team of the Union.
Throughout the year - from 1985 to 1986, an Uzbek took his studies at the Moscow Higher School of Football. In 1987 Mirjanol managed to win the laurels of the European champion among participants of youthful age, and in 1994 he won the Asian Games.
In 1987, the gifted athlete spent six games as part of the Pakhtakor 1st League club, and in 1988 his abilities were used in the Dynamo club in Minsk. True, the guy didn’t take root in Belarus, and soon returned to Pakhtakor.
Unlike many talented peers who traded sports for a more stable and pragmatic profession, Mirjalol Kasymov remained in football and has not completely left him to this day.
Gaming career and achievements
As part of the Tashkent Pakhtakor, Kasymov played about 190 games, scoring as many as no less than sixty-four goals. The temporary period of his cooperation with this club dates from 1987-2003 with interruptions.
Naturally, the geography of the sports path of the football master is not limited to the capital of Uzbekistan. He played for Vladikavkaz Spartak, Samara club Wings of the Soviets, and even for the team from the UAE Al-Shabab.
He is the champion of his native country and Russia, recognized as the best Uzbek bomber, four cups of Uzbekistan of different years are stored in his house. And this is not a complete list of the achievements of a man named Mirjalol Kasymov.
Kasymov - coach
After the football player’s career ended, Kasymov didn’t leave “to plant cabbage”, but started coaching. He could not imagine his life without football.
Mirdzhalol Kushakovich’s coaching career began in the Mubarek club in the first half of the 2000s. And at the end of 2006, the national and Olympic football team of Uzbekistan received the assistant head coach in the person of the legendary athlete.
A year later, in 2007, Kasymov became the head coach of the Kurvuchi club from Tashkent, which hit everyone with its rapid development, and in 2008 he “put on the shoulder” the invincible “Pakhtakor” - the champion of Uzbekistan.
Such successes did not go unnoticed, and in 2008 Mirjalol Kasymov headed the national team of Uzbekistan, and remained in this post until 2013 with short interruptions.
In 2012, he was recognized as the best coach of the year. And the thirteenth year was both unsuccessful for Kasymov and his wards. The national team of Uzbekistan could not break into the world championship. After a lost match with Jordan, Mirjalol Kushakovich resigned, but the FFU did not satisfy her, and he remained. He managed to retire only after 2 years - in 2015, but even today he is often invited as a consultant, he is considered to be respected. The athlete did not go far from football.
Folk love
The fact that Mirjalol Kasymov is popularly loved in Uzbekistan is evidenced by many facts. One of the episodes was repeatedly exaggerated in the local media.
And the story was as follows: returning from the airport, where the athlete escorted his colleagues flying to the next international competition, Kasymov met the traffic police inspector on his way. The law enforcement officer stopped Mirjalol’s car, but when he saw number 004 (the “four” always appeared on the player’s shirts, that’s why the car number was chosen that way), he reached out and saluted the celebrity, instead of asking him for the right.
Kasymov was loved and continues to be loved by everyone in the native Fatherland and not only. And the reason for this is his original game, bright charisma and many goals scored. Not one documentary was shot about the football player, he is invited to television and even write books. Without exaggeration, Mirjalol Kushakovich can be called a big star of Uzbek sports of the first magnitude.