Argentina’s first rival at the U20 World Cup: where is Uzbekistan and how much is its currency worth?

Uzbekistan will be Argentina’s first rival in the Under-20 World Cup, this Saturday at 16:00 at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero. The selected one is the Asian champion and its main figure is Umarali Rakhmonaliev, the only player who plays outside the country and plays for Rubin Kazan, Russia. But what about the small nation that was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)?

With only 447,400 km², its area is less than that of the provinces of Buenos Aires and La Pampa combined (451,011 km²) and its capital, Tashkent, is 15,423 kilometers away from the city.

To get there it is necessary fly almost 24 hours and make two stopovers – one in Brazil and one in Istanbul or Dubai, depending on whether you choose Turkish Airlines or Emirates – for a cost well in excess of one million pesos.

Together with Liechtenstein, It is one of only two countries doubly isolated by the sea. In its case, it borders Kazakhstan to the northwest and north, Afghanistan to the south, Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Tajikistan to the southeast, and Turkmenistan to the southwest.

Perhaps due to this geographical condition, it is not surprising that for a time Uzbekistan was a hermetic nation. Until their leaders realized that tourism could leave them with a lot of money. And then they made everything flexible. Indeed, Argentine men and women do not need a visa to enter.

Incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and since 1924 established as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic within the former Soviet Union, It was one of the five Central Asian Soviet republics that became independent. It happened in 1991, two years after the fall of the Berlin wall, and currently 80% of its 29 million inhabitants – with an ethnic group that mixes Mongolians and Russians – profess a moderate Islam, after decades of secularism.

Its president is Shavkat Mirziyoyev, although its great political reference is Islam Karimov, who took office in 1990 and remained in office until his death 26 years later. The currency is the Uzbek som, quoted at $0.000087. With an economy rich in cotton, gold, uranium and natural gas, Uzbekistan was the center of world trade due to its importance on the Silk Road with the cities of Khiva -full of impressive mosques-, Bukhara and Samarkand.

In addition to being a key tourist point in the millennial Silk Roadthe goal is to start a new era of development through sport and bring the country to the world stage so that in the near future it can host an international tournament, such as the Asian Games, which will be held in Doha in 2030.

For this there is a strong investment and in 2019, for example, it was inaugurated Smoke Arena, a complex located in Tashkent which has been billed as the largest ice skating rink in Central Asia, seating 12,500. The venue is also adaptable to sports such as basketball, volleyball, futsal, boxing, fencing and taekwondo.

You don’t have to be a genius to remember what the Soviet school gave to history chess. And Uzbekistan, one of the former socialist republics, has not escaped this tradition and has continued to be independent since September 1991.

Uzbekistan, the king of Asia

The Sub 20 World Cup in Argentina will mark the fifth appearance for Uzbekistan, which comes from being crowned Asian champion for the first time in its history after beating Iraq in the final. Led by Ravshan Khaydarov, they will try to surpass their best performance, which is having reached the quarterfinals in the 2013 and 2015 editions. They have a precedent with Argentina in the 2003 UAE edition, the result of which was 2- 1 for the “Albiceleste” with Mascherano, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Cavenaghi in the field.

Khaydarov, 61, is a sort of José Pekerman of Uzbek football. Is that since he took the reins of the youth teams of Asian football, he won the continental title among the Sub 23 in 2018 and now he has repeated it with the Sub 20.

With a past as a former defender in his days as a modest footballer, Khaydarov has important coaching scrolls. He was a senior team selector from 2002 to 2005 and then, after working at various clubs, established himself as a youth team coach.

In his hands he has two rough diamonds. They are defender Abdukodir Khusanov, who plays for Energetik Minsk, in the Belarusian first division, and attacking midfielder Abbosbek Fayzullaev, who has already won two Uzbek first division titles and a local Super Cup with Pakhtakor, his former club trainer.