Today in Karaganda in the shopping center «City Mall» the team presented their main squad for 2014 to fans and media alike. The executive director of the Karaganda Erden Khalilin club and head coach Victor Kumykov Karaganda also presented the club’s new signings for this upcoming season, from which the fans will be sure to expect good performances in the national competition, and in the Europa League.
This type of pre-season presentation of the team to the fans – although a very common European experience, unfortunately, has not yet caught on in our Kazakh football culture. Our clubs, at best, prefer to meet with their fans during the season, or after winning the championship, which, as you all know is a very rare occurrence. And now, it seems, there have finally emerged some positive developments. One of the pioneers is Shakhter Karagandy; the chance to see the new Shakhter team was met with great enthusiasm from the fans and the public. Even an hour before the start, the first floor of the shopping and entertainment center flooded with dozens of fans; over time the crowd grew even more and more. Flocking around the stage painted in Shakhter’s colors, orange and black, they all eagerly awaited the appearance of their favorite team.
However, before the presentation of the players, the fans were entertained with music, games and prizes. The fans were invited to participate in football juggling competitions, and trivia about the history of Shakhter. Win or lose – all participants received prizes ranging from autographed ball to more modest, scarfs or caps. Throughout this all, the crowd never ceased to grow quit, as chants of “Go Shakhtar – Shakhter is the champion” to “Go Shakhter – Forward Karaganda” rung through the air. And if all of this was not enough to create an exceptional football atmosphere, when the time finally came for the players to come before the public, Karagandy fans were ready to shout the names of each player. It’s not too difficult to guess that the loudest cheers were reserved for their beloved captain – Andrei Finonchenko, who incidentally was the last player to come out. Karagandy fans have much to celebrate and cheer about, as the newcomers: midfielder Kazakhstani Ulan Konysbaev, Bosnian striker Mihret Topcagic, Uzbek midfielder Shaukat Salomov, Portuguese defender Yago Fernandez and finally Uzbek striker Kamoliddin Murzoev are all top class additions to what was already a solid team. Each of the above players received their Shakhter jerseys and their numbers for the year: Konysbaev with the number 10, Topcagic with the number 9, Salom with number 29, Fernandez with number 6 and Murzoev with number 27.
After the presentation, the new players took the floor to sign autographs and take pictures with fans, but not before the head coach, Victor Kumykov, congratulated all of Karaganda with the 80th anniversary of the city! And said “we would like to please the fans of Karaganda and give them a gift in the form of championship!” All in all this became a worthy little football festival commemorating the start of the season and again proved Shakhter as one of the most successful and forward thinking clubs in Kazakhstan; and with no sign of slowing down, each season seems to bring new fame and achievements not only for Shakhter, but for Kazakhstan.
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Photo credit Sultanbek Khassenov, Ulykhbek Khassenov.
Orange and black 