Utkir Yusupov: "We put an end to our dreams, the prayers of our people gave us strength"

Uzbek national team goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov shared his feelings after the historic match against the UAE and expressed his impressions of the important victory.

– I sincerely congratulate all our people on this historic result. Thanks to the trust placed in us by our President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the sincere prayers of our people, we have achieved a great achievement today. We have put an end to a dream that has been a dream for many years and presented a great gift to our people.

A draw in today's match was enough for us. Due to the high temperature and very high humidity, it was difficult for us to feel physically well on the field. In such difficult conditions, our team doctors and medical staff from the Russian CSKA club helped us a lot. They monitored the amount of water and minerals excreted from the body and provided us with special vitaminized assistance. This help from the doctors was extremely useful for us and made a great contribution to our successful completion of our task.

– There were many dangerous situations near your goal today. How did you prepare for the game?
– Every goalkeeper, before entering the field, first of all aims to keep his goal intact. Today, I also intended not to concede a goal, having received my parents' blessings. I am very happy that I benefited my team in this way.

– What was the most difficult situation for you?
– Every episode during the game was important and difficult in its own way. Since the opposing team was constantly attacking, we were under constant pressure. However, despite this, we managed to successfully repel all their attacks, - said Yusupov.