ACC : Uzbekistan’s Adijon enjoy the feel of outdoor pitch

Uzbekistan club Adijon had trained on an artificial turf since winter began and they had their first feel of an outdoor pitch at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

The team arrived here for the Asian Champion Clubs (ACC) tournament yesterday morning and their manager, Rinat Mamatkazin, said that they had been restricted to playing indoors since the cold weather set in.

“It’s different playing indoors and outdoors but we are here to give the other teams a run for their money. We have 17 internationals in the team and they have been playing together for many years,’’ said Mamatkazin.

Adijon, who are making their first appearance in the tournament, are in Group B with Singapore Recreation Club and Pakistan’s Olympian Village Club.

Mamathkazin added that they were not sure of the strength of the other teams.

“However, we believe that the Pakistan’s club will pose a threat to us in our group,’’ said the 54-year-old manager.

“We will be banking on forward Roman (Sibaev) to deliver the goals in the tournament. He has been the most impressive player in our league, scoring 38 goals in 15 matches.”

Adijon played a friendly match against National Juniors in Bukit Jalil yesterday and they were beaten 2-5.