Meet Yago Fernandez.

Orange and Black continues its series of reports on Shakhter’s newcomers. This time we had a few moments to catch up with Yago Fernandez, a very talented 26 year old defender who joined the club this winter transfer season.

Yago, how did you start playing football?

I was born in Lisbon, Portugal and started playing football at the age of 8 in Benefica’s youth team.

Did you have any favorite players growing up?

Of course, I loved Fernando Hierro of Real Madrid. I was a big fan of Benefica and Real as a child.

Was it hard to integrate into the Shakhter squad?

In other teams that I have played for it wasn’t this tough physically. But, after the first week it got a lot easier.

Is there anyone specific on the team with whom you spend a lot of time with?

I get along well with all of the players; they are all very friendly, welcoming, and cheerful. The squad is close-knit, everyone has been extremely supportive.

How is your relationship with the trainer?

The trainer and I have a very good working relationship, I can’t be anything but happy with him. I’m grateful for his friendliness and good attitude towards me.

 Can you tell us a little bit about your family?

My family lives in the city of Valencia, one of the most beautiful and historic cities in Italy.

As always, don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us @ShakhterKgd for the latest English language updates on Shakhter.

Photo credit shahter.kz, orginal interview conducted by Shakhter Karagandy Press Office, translated by Bekezhan Nurkhaidarov. 

Shakhter doesn’t play without setting high goals.

We talked with Shakhter Karagandy trainer, Viktor Kumykov about the new season, and what he expects after a groundbreaking performance last year.

-How is pre-season training going? What condition are the players in?

Everything is going according to plan; we’re training and playing friendly games. The main goals here are placed on tactics and fitness. Overall the team is progressing very well.

-How important is it to win friendly matches?

I won’t say that they aren’t important, wins are needed to keep the players’ moral high. Shakhter Karagandy always plays to win, if we end up losing –we can’t say that we played well. If we win – then we can be happy with our performance. It doesn’t matter if it’s a training, friendly or let alone an official match we always look to win. What ends up happening is a different story, not everything always works out.

-Is the team rooster complete, are there any more transfers in the works?

We still have one more position to fill, on the flank, once we fill that position the team should be ready to compete in the Europa League.

-Can you confirm that there are still 2 spots left on the team for foreign players (Kazakhstani team have a limit on the number of foreign player allowed in a squad)? 

Yes, we have 2 vacancies. One of which we want to fill as soon as possible and the other one sometime before the start of the Europa League, most likely it will be a center midfielder.

-Has Aldin Dzidic gotten his Kazakhstani citizenship yet?

He will receive it any day now, we had sent all of the documents in last year and the only thing left is to formalize the papers.

-Does arrival of Fernandez (Yago) mean that one of the current defenders will leave?

You know, nobody will be leaving the team. We only have 4 central defenders: Vasiljevic, Maliy, Dzidic and Fernandez. That’s the right number of defenders a team should have. If you remember, last year we had some problems with defenders and since we usually play with 3 defenders, only 1 man will sit out per game. All of them will be part of the team.

-Do you already know what the goals for this season are for Shakhter?

Pretty much, Shakhter doesn’t play without setting high goals. Our job this season is to win the domestic league, to make it into the Group Stage of the Europa League and to perform better than last year.

-Who do you consider to be the main contenders for winning the Premier League this season?

-This year there will more teams than ever. Other than Shakhter there is FC Aktobe, Kairat Almaty, probably FC Astana. And as always some dark horse will be a contender as will. So I think four or five teams will be fighting for the championship.

-You compatriot, Yuri Krasnozhan has taken over the Kazakhstani national team, what do you think of this move?

I actually meet with him a few days ago, he came to look at one of our games. I talked with him, he asked me my opinion of the championship, the players, who would be a viable candidate for the national team. I think that’s the right thing to do, to travel to various clubs and scout all of the players. We are both from Russia, so I’ve known him for a while; we’ve had a good working relationship. The federation made the right choice in picking Krasnozhan.

As always, don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us @ShakhterKgd for the latest English language updates on Shakhter.

Photo credit Sports.kz, original interview conducted in Russian by Duman Balykbaev, translated by Bekezhan Nurkhaidarov.

Meet Mihret Topcagic.

Meet Mihret Topcagic, the new star striker for Shakhter Karagandy. We present the first installment about Shakhter’s new signings!

-You’re now moving to Kazakhstan, how did you come into contact with Shakhter Karagandy?

They went through an agency that had become aware of me through my statistics. The club has a very good scouting system. They looked at two Wolfsburg games through the internet, against Storm and Rapid. The coach was pleased with my performance.

-Do you already have an idea of ​​what to expect in Kazakhstan?

I have talked with some players who were already there, two Slovenians and a Serb. They told me that the club in Karagandy is very well organized and wants to achieve much. They almost reached the Champions League Group Stage (Note: FCSK lost in the play-off to Celtic 2:0 / 0:3) and that life there would be quite enjoyable.

-How long did it take you to make the decision?

On 19 December, they have contacted me, I had been thinking for a bit longer since I was very happy at Wolfsburg.

-What do you expect from this transfer, other than that you will earn considerably more money?

I’m into it 100% and will try to fulfill the wishes of the club as they paid so much money for me; the management wants to get into the Europa League, which is very important.

-Are you not afraid that when you come away from Central Europe you’ll be a bit out of sight, especially with regard to your future sporting ambitions?

I do not think so, mainly because development in Kazakhstan is followed especially carefully in Russia. Also a Shakhter Karagandy player is currently on trial with Brunswick.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more info about Shakhter’s signings! Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @ShakhterKgd

Original interview conducted in German by Hubert Gigler of Kleine Zeitung. Translated by Bekezhan Nurkhaidarov.

Chat with Shakhter’s Athletic Director

Athletic Director of Shakhter Karagandy, Ulykhbek Asanbaev talked about the future of the club and goals for the next season.

“We will try to win the domestic league and get into a group stage of a European competition again.”

–Have you extended the contract with Viktor Kumykov (Shakhter’s manager)?

–           “Yes, he will be at Shakhter for one more season”

–Is there any information regarding the signing of Konysbaev, Dimitrenko*, or Dzholchiev?

–          “No. Right now we have not signed anything. We will offer contracts to players in January. Then the you will know.”

–What will pre-season look like for Shakhter?

–          Right now the team is on vacation. They will get back together in January. Pre-season training will most likely be held in Turkey

–Has the situation with Canas been resolved?

–          Yes. He has made the decision to move to Mettalurg Donetsk. The documents have already been signed. 

The latest signing made by Shakhter was the transfer of Zarko Markovich from Romanian CS Gaz Metan Medias for 100 000 euro. Markovich is valued at 600 000, making him the second most valuable player on the squad after Ghazaryan who is valued at 1 million euro.

*Note – earlier we reported that  V. Dimitrenko had signed with Shakhter. No official documents have been signed, but verbal agreement has been reached.

** Original interview was done by Vesti.kz