Tashkent: Pakhtakor head coach Samvel Babayan has taken over the managerial reigns of Uzbekistan following the resignation of Mirdjalal Kasimov, who stepped down from the post in the wake of the White Wolves’ mauling at the hands of DPR Korea in their 2018 FIFA Wolrd Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying campaign opener.
Kasimov led the Uzbeks to the last eight of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup - where they were denied a place in the semi-finals after a 2-0 extra-time loss to Korea Republic - before the Central Asians went on a disappointing run of results, with the Group H setback in Pyongyang coming after friendly defeats to Japan (5-1) and Iran (1-0) as well as a 1-1 friendly draw with the South Koreans.
Uzbekistan found themselves four goals down with only 36 minutes of their Russia 18/UAE 19 joint-qualifying curtain raiser at the Kim Il-sung Stadium played and although they rallied in the second half with goals from Anzur Ismailov and Sardor Rashidov, the 2011 AFC Asian Cup semi-finalists were unable to complete the comeback, with their chances of taking something from the match dealt a major blow when Azizbek Haydarov was sent off with seven minutes remaining.
The defeat prompted Uzbek’s second highest international goalscorer Kasimov to tender his resignation and be replaced by Babayan, who is no stranger to the national team setup having been part of the Uzbekistan teams that took part in the 2004 AFC Asian Cup finals and the qualifying campaigns for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and 2007 AFC Asian Cup..
At club level, Babayan (pictured) has been a regular fixture at the helm of Pakhtakor, where he was involved in 11 AFC Champions League tournaments as well as guiding the Tashkent giants to their tenth Uzbekistan league title in 2014 with an undefeated record.
Top of the 44-year-old’s agenda is to get Uzbekistan on track in the second round of qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup with the White Wolves taking on the Philippines - who have made a 100% start to their campaign with wins over Bahrain (2-1) and Yemen (2-0) - in Bocaue on September 8.
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