In the second round of Group H of the European Championship qualifiers on the evening of 26 March, Kazakhstan hosts strong rivals Denmark. As a result, Kazakhstan "let two chase three", after conceding two goals in the first half, scored three goals in 16 minutes in the second half to complete a big comeback, and achieved a victory that was enough to write a milestone in team history.
Kazakhstan is ranked 115th in the world, 35 places below the 80th-placed national team and 97 places below rivals Nordic powerhouse Denmark (18th). After the upset victory over Denmark, the last four quarterfinals of the European Championship, Kazakhstan, which has a thin presence in international football for a long time, has finally been seen, and their efforts and growth have been more understood.
Kazakh players celebrate victory, Danish players become "backdrops".
The fishbelly team's path to counterattack
The territory of Kazakhstan straddles two continents, Asia and Europe, with the Ural River as the continental boundary, and most of its territory is in Asia. Kazakhstan, which was originally a member of the AFC, returned home from the World Cup in 1998 and 2002, which caused contradictions with the AFC. Subsequently, they made an amazing decision - to leave Asia and join Europe, leave the "comfort zone" of the AFC, and devote themselves to the "search for abuse" in Europe.
This courageous decision also made them a "cash machine" for European teams for a long time thereafter. After 2002, Kazakhstan has never qualified for the World Qualifiers and European Qualifiers, including 3 wins in 3 of the 5 World Qualifiers, with only 3 wins in a total of 50 matches, and the dream of "rushing out of Europe" seems out of reach.
In 2015, Astana faced Sneijder's Galatasaray in the group stage of the Champions League.
After constantly fighting monsters and upgrading with strong teams, the situation gradually changed in 2015. First of all, at club level, Astana became the first Kazakhstani team to play in the main draw of the Champions League that year. Although they failed to qualify from the group, they drew Atletico, Benfica and Galatasaray on three home games, enough to leave with their heads held high. Since then, Astana has become a regular in Europe, beating Manchester United "Red Devils" 2-1 in the group stage of the 2019 Europa League, although Manchester United are only substitutes, but this has an extremely important role in promoting the development of Kazakhstani football and the outside world's understanding of Kazakhstani football.
At the national team level, after 20 years of lying on the salary, the Kazakhstan national team has also started their counterattack journey. The UEFA Nations League started from the lowest level D, Kazakhstan has advanced to two consecutive levels in three competitions, and in 2022, it has historically beaten Slovakia with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat, and snatched the top spot in the UEFA Nations League C group to advance to B level. In the autumn of 2024, Kazakhstan will compete in the B level against established teams such as England, Norway, the Czech Republic and Turkey.
In this European preliminary round, Kazakhstan and Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, San Marino and Northern Ireland are in the same group, and the top two in the qualifying group stage directly qualified for the main stage of the European Cup, which is indeed a group that can see the hope of qualifying. Especially after beating Denmark, the top 20 in the world ranking and the strongest opponent in the group, for the first time, it is even more expected that Kazakhstan can perform miracles in this European qualifier. For the team, which has never advanced to the final round of the continental competition, the main match of Euro 2024 seems to be a visible and tangible goal.
What can the national football team learn?
The rise of a weak football country will inevitably become a frame of reference for the national football team. During this international break, when Kazakhstan was upset, New Zealand (105th), which was ranked below them in two matches, drew and lost without a win, but it was not regarded by fans as an upset, but by strength. The last meeting between the national football team and Kazakhstan was in 2016, when the national football team lost 0-1 at home, losing to Kazakhstan for the first time in history. The last time the national football team won was in 2007, when the national football team reversed 2-1, and the goals were scored by Han Peng and Li Jinyu, who are familiar to Shandong fans.
On June 7, 2016, the national football team lost 0-1 to Kazakhstan in Dalian.
From 2002 to 2023, the national football team fell all the way after "rushing out of Asia" for the first time, and Kazakhstan, which is determined to "rush out of Europe", has gradually taken off the hat of "sending children to the points". When fans ridiculed that the national football team should join Antarctica in order to enter the World Cup again, Kazakhstan, which "left Asia and entered Europe", has been on the most difficult road for 20 years, and the progress is visible to the naked eye.
Over the years, the national football team has been plagued by the utilitarian thinking of meritocracy, always thinking of taking shortcuts to make themselves suddenly stronger, always thinking that they can succeed casually, but forgetting to practice internal skills in a down-to-earth manner like Kazakhstan. Entering the World Cup is important, but it is not the only important thing, a healthy league and youth training are equally important, or even more important, and laying a good foundation can lead to long-term success. Play against high-level teams, recognize the gap in the game, and sharpen and improve. Stop single-handedly picking weak teams to find self-confidence, after all, "there are not many weak teams left for the national football team", and there is also an old saying in China, "Play chess with a smelly chess basket, the more you go, the more it stinks." ”
(Poster News Editor Ma Hongzhen, Beijing Youth Daily, The Paper, etc.)