The head coach of the Uzbekistan national team, Fabio Cannavaro, participated in a press conference before the match against Gabon and shared his thoughts.
- "First of all, I apologize for being late. Due to the traffic jam on the street, we were late. Although this is still a friendly match, we prepared well. We will also try to win every match, we will test many players. We must not forget that we are close to the World Cup."
- Weren't there more midfielders called up for this training camp? Meanwhile, the wingers were drawn less this time. Oston Urunov, Alisher Odilov and Dostonbek Hamdamov. Isn't there 8 more players in the center of the field?
- "If I want to change the game during the match, I can influence the game through these midfielders. But it should also be noted that this time I called up 1 more striker."
- The Gabon national team came without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. How much does this help our team?
- "So, first of all, I need to focus on my team and prepare it. Of course, we will also study the opposing team. We watched their last games. Undoubtedly, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is their strongest striker and leader. Nevertheless, we focused all our attention on our game. True, sometimes our opponent can be strong, and sometimes weaker. Names don't play in football, it doesn't play a big role on the field. Because sometimes we can lose our focus because there are no famous players. Therefore, regardless of the names, we must give our all on the field."
- Can the coach comment on the condition of the injured players? About Abbosbek Fayzullayev and other players.
- "During this month, we observed many players. I even watched the injured players. I also attended their operation in Rome. My main task is to give them hope. No one has lost hope of participating in the World Cup. I must also say that the doors of the national team are open to all players. My main task is clearly to form one composition. Abbosbek Fayzullayev has suffered many injuries since I arrived. Despite the numerous injuries, we need to work harder. We don't know who will go to the World Cup, we will monitor everyone until the last seconds."
- Will you field a fighting squad in tomorrow's game, or will the newly recruited players be in the starting lineup?
- "I will try to give opportunities to all the players during these two games. Because that's the purpose of this tournament - to see all the players."
- We know that these are the last days of FIFA before the World Cup. Can we say that the players included in this squad are the main players who will go to the World Cup?
- "We have 55 players in our extended squad. But despite this, we will also monitor other players. Maybe if other players perform well in the domestic league, we can add them to the squad."
- When the roster for this tournament was announced, there were discussions on social media among fans because some well-formed players were not included in the squad. If you had the opportunity to further expand the squad, which other players from the Super League would you have recruited? That is, do you have any players whose game you liked but couldn't call up due to the limit, and if so, who are they?
- "There are so many players I want to call up myself. Especially during the training camp in Dubai, we tested many players, and among them were plenty of the players I wanted to call up. I can say that I am also pleased with the large selection. We have a list of 55, including both young and experienced players. Of course, I wouldn't dwell on the names. During the training camp, I spoke with each player individually, and what pleased me was that every player feels a sense of pride when they come to the national team. This is very important. We will talk on the phone with all the players outside the training camp, study their condition, get acquainted with them. I think this is very important."
- My question isn't about meetings, my question is about the podcast with Del Piero. You mentioned the pressure in the World Cup penalty shootout there. Do you also talk to our players about this? We know that we've had problems with this in recent games.
- "I don't think you saw the penalty shootout in our game against Iran. We work on penalties in every training session. But sometimes training can't help either, because sometimes the emotions inside the players also come to the big stage. That's why we always talk to players and exchange experiences."
- Why wasn't Vladimir Nazarov involved in this meeting? Is this due to an error in the Super Cup or the return of O'tkir Yusupov? Also, is our number one goalkeeper known?
- "We are monitoring all the goalkeepers, we have called up whoever we found suitable, whoever we considered worthy of the national team. Therefore, I didn't want to talk about the guards who weren't on the list. They need to prove to me that I made a mistake by not calling them up to the national team. So far, we have tested 5 goalkeepers, I think this will significantly strengthen the competition."
- This is an official competition, and if we hadn't played against Gabon or Venezuela, which teams would we have faced? Also, how much does it affect our footballers who played in Iran that the current game was left without practice?
- "Of course, we are worried about the players in Iran. Fortunately, they returned early. We sent a request to FIFA to move to Super League clubs as soon as possible. Nowadays, it's hard to find a strong club. But before the World Cup, we will face two strong clubs. One is Canada, the second will be clear now."
- It is good that there are competitions for the national team coach. But we have more and more injuries, how can we compensate for them? Moreover, the physical condition of our foreign players is slightly better than that of Super League players.
- "If they play as foreign players, they are truly considered strong. One of the problems in our Super League is the slow pace of play. The condition of our local football players is not always good. I know that the last month was a fasting month for us, many football players were fasting. We observed many players, and the tempo and level of the games decreased. I always recommend adding and improving them. We need to work more than 100 percent. My main concern in this situation is not the level, but their physical condition. We know we have 2-3 weeks before the World Cup, but we won't have time to improve their physical condition during this time. Therefore, we have been working on this since January."
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