Euro-2008: draw has been thrown

On our way towards the football grounds of Austria and Switzerland there will be the Portuguese Armada and the Belgian Red Devils. Apart from them there are also Poland, Serbia & Montenegro, Finland, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Do we have a hope?

We have addressed this question to the best expert - Rakhat Aliyev, president of the Football Union of Kazakhstan (FSK.)

He has commented from Montreux on the results of the draw exclusively for "Gazeta.kz" website:

- Kazakhstan have been drawn in the first qualifying group of Euro-2008, together with Portugal and Belgium. How do you assess the Group А and our chances in it?

- The main thing is that it is not a death group. I believe that we shall achieve better results than the last year in the World Cup qualifiers. Of course, the group favourites Portugal will be the most fearsome rivals. We can play with enough confidence against the others, both home and away. The same Belgium with its "Red Devils" is a football power with a strong school.

But in football the way up is not blocked also for those who did not show any good results yesterday, but are actively working and developing. If you remember we have already played against the Portuguese away - and we lost with a minimum score, 1: 0. Of course, it was just a friendly game, but our development has not stayed firm since then.

- The results of the draw means that real grandees of world football will arrive in Almaty. Does our sports infrastructure comply with the European level, worthy of Luis Figo?

- Yes, certainly - now we can host the top level guests. Otherwise the UEFA would not let us in… And we already have good experience: we hosted the European champions - Greeks, as well as Denmark and Turkey. The best European player Andrey Schevchenko was here and he did not complain…

- Our team has already played against Portugal, Poland, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. But the other rivals - Belgium, Finland, Serbia and Montenegro are unknown for us. How do you assess their strength?

- Poland cannot be called a weak rival. Serbia is going to be fearsome. But in football one should not underestimate those who are considered outsiders. All our rivals are strong and stable teams and we should be well-prepared for each match. This is what our coaches headed by Arno Pijpers will be doing.

- Four qualifiers will take place already this year - two at home and two away. Will this time suffice for Arno Pijpers, our new coach, to prepare the team for these matches?

- Time is never enough, no matter what for… But in this case the FSK will do everything possible to provide conditions for fruitful work of the coach and the team. It is the main task for us.

- Our supporters pin big hopes on the Dutch coach. Is his style different from what his Kazakh and Russian are doing?

- One can argue a lot about each coach and his methods. But the main thing is the will to achieve good results. I think that both our supporters and experts will be able to make judgements on him depending on the performance of our national team.

- In the Swiss draw our team was in the Pot 1 together with Lichtenstein and San Marino. Is there any hope for the promotion in the football rating?

- It is one of items in the contract with the new coach Arno Pijpers. We will work and results will come.