The Astana Arena stadium in the Kazakh capital will be the venue for the 2013 Kazakhstan Super Cup involving two-time Premier League champions FC Shakhter Karaganda and the 2012 Kazakhstan Cup holders FC Astana.

 

At a pre-match media conference on Friday, the coaches and players of the two teams said what they were expecting from the Sunday showdown. The pre-match press conference took place in Astana featuring FC Shakhter Manager Viktor Kumykov and FC Astana Manager Miroslav Beranek as well as players Andrey Finonchenko (FC Shakhter) and Nenad Eric (FC Astana).

 

“Dear journalists! Now, we have a new situation as we are playing as visitors at Astana Arena" guests in accordance with the Super Cup regulations. This time, FC Shakhtar Karaganda is formally the home team for this match. We have played a few games in the offseason and managed to save almost all of the last year's players. Mikhail Rozhkov left the team and Lazarevsky’s contract expired. Central defender Zelao joined the team as well as Alexander Kirov from Karaganda. Football fans will see Zelao and Kirov play in the 2013 Kazakhstan Super Cup match.”

 

“During training camps, we fulfilled the programme we had. We have only one player missing, but he is a very significant player, Aldin Djidic. He got an injury and his estimated recovery period is one and a half to two months. There are some new players on the team. The 2013 Kazakhstan Super Cup match will probably see central defender Sergei Maliy and Aleksandar Simcevic play in the starting lineup. The latter joined our club from the Russian side Mordovia. We also have Borut Semler on the team. Oterh newcomers are young players.”

 

 “Good afternoon everyone! On March 3, we will be playing a very difficult match against FC Shakhtar, which is a strong club. Over the past two years, they have held the champion title. We trained two months in Turkey. We are now well-prepared, and of course, we will try to get a good result in the 2013 Kazakhstan Super Cup match. I urge all Astana residents to come see us play and support us!”

 

“It is going to be an interesting match. FC Astana is a good team. However, we are eager to win too! All our players are dreaming to win this trophy! The fact that Zelao is now with Astana adds poignancy to this match. Zelao played in Russia and he is a very experienced and skilled defender. It will be interesting to test myself play against such a player. We expect to see a lot of fans from Karaganda. Who will be supporting us and it will surely help us. Football fans are willing to see an exciting match!”

 

 — I don’t think someone can give any guaranteed figures. I don’t think Nenand is going to speak about the goals he could concede. You will see it for yourself in the match on March 3. 

 

 

— Yes, Zelao is good and experienced player. We understand one another well on the pitch. It applies to the whole of the defensive line as well.

 

 — We know that we will not be able to play with only one goalkeeper throughout the season. We are involved in a variety of tournaments. This is why we have signed Vladimir. He is a good goalkeeper and he will get a great experience from Nenad.

 

Question for Viktor Kumykov:

 

 — All kinds of extra motivation have been distributed already (laughs). Everyone has got what they deserve (laughs). Speaking seriously, such meetings take place ahead of all new seasons. Such events have become a tradition. It is encouraging that the new governor continues this tradition of paying attention to the team. We met and talked to him. We cannot set ourselves any insignificant tasks given that we are Kazakhstan’s two-time champions. There has nothing been said about remuneration yet (smiles).

 

— We want to break Shakher’s losing streak tradition and more to win. We have already lost three times in the Super Cup matches, but this time we are going to win it by all means and take it to Karaganda. The main task is to do well in the Premier League, the Cup and European competitions.