“We help our city, we show that we are here”
|Alisher Dzhumaliev, Urmat Ismailov and Sanzhar Mustapaev played for Kyrgyzstan at the Wrocław Cup. Image: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
“We feel very proud”
Players Sanzhar Mustapaev, Alisher Dzhumaliev, and Urmat Ismailov represented Kyrgyzstan at this year’s Wrocław Cup in Poland (2022).
For the players from Kyrgyzstan, the commitment to the tournament started long before they stepped onto the pitch. It started the minute they left Bishkek. It took the players two days to reach Wrocław.
Starting their journey in Kyrgyzstan's capital city, Bishkek, the team flew to Istanbul. From Istanbul, they took another flight to Berlin. They then got a bus to Wrocław.
With their visas only allowing them six days in Europe, they’d barely arrived and got settled in before they had to leave again, missing the final day of the tournament.
However, Sanzhar Mustapaev, Alisher Dzhumaliev, and Urmat Ismailov were still pleased to come. It was a unique opportunity they didn’t want to miss.
For 30-year-old Sanzhar, it was his first international tournament and the first time he’d left Kyrgyzstan. He’s played lots of tournaments in Kyrgyzstan, but this was his first chance to represent his country.
Bishkek born Sanzhar is a football fanatic. He loves football and plays a match almost every day. It’s been the case since he first kicked a ball as a child.
“I can’t imagine my life without football. It has an important place in my life. I play five games a week – I play every sort of football – 11-a-side, 5-a-side, 4-a-side.”
Alisher, translating for the group, says “Sanzhar - he’s the scorer.”
25-year-old Alisher, the player turned unofficial translator – is also from Kyrgyz capital city, Bishkek. Like Sanzhar, he’s played football since he was a child.
“It’s my second time playing football in a tournament like this – I played at the Homeless World Cup in Mexico in 2018. We beat Italy, but Mexico was too strong. They were champions that year.”
Their first game against Italy, Alisher explains was particularly memorable: “Ten seconds before the end, it was 4-3. In the last ten seconds we scored two goals and we won!”
|Kyrgyzstan in action against Denmark at the Wrocław Cup. Photo: HWC/Rebecca Corbett
His family were watching the games from their living room with the live stream full size on their TV, they followed the action at the Wroclaw Cup too. Once again street football was streamed live in their living room.
Alisher explains “after games they write to me, ‘Why did you lose?’ Today we won, I think they’ll be happy.”
He laughs and says: “My mother’s best friend lives in Denmark and I think she will call her after the game and say, ‘Our country beat your country!’”
It’s not only on the football pitch that he’s making his family proud, Alisher is the first person in his family to go to university.
“I graduated from the judicial university and now I help others. I think in the future I will work as a lawyer.”
The third player from Kyrgyzstan is 33-year-old Urmat Ismailov, who works as a street cleaner for the municipality in Bishkek. He first represented his country at the Homeless World Cup in Mexico with Alisher in 2018.
Playing at the Homeless World Cup was the first time he’d ever played street football. His first game was the memorable clash against Italy. It was the last-minute victory 5-4 that cemented his love of street football – “after this, we loved this game.”
He shares his love of the game with his fellow players, but he explains perhaps the biggest fan of all is the president of Street Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic Turar Ibragimov, who is very ambitious about the future of street football in the country.
“Our president works hard; he loves this game, and he built a street football stadium in Bishkek City. We want to start a local football tournament, and then an international tournament - an Asian Cup.
“We have some fans in our country – our family and friends – a lot of people watched the tournament live. We must play hard.
“It can help us, we help our city, we show that we are here. We can teach people to play football and encourage them to do sports. We feel very proud.”
Street Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic (SFF) are our partner in Kyrgyzstan, find out more about their work.
Words: Rebecca Corbett