AFC Cup: call of the East lured defender Kozubaev to Hong Kong club’s cause
- The prospect of a new challenge with ambitious club proved too hard for Tamirlan Kozubaev to resist
- Eastern Long Lions face PFC Sogdiana Jizzakh in Uzbekistan on Tuesday in their Inter-Zone semi-final
Eastern Long Lions defender Tamirlan Kozubaev said it was the prospect of a new challenge with an ambitious club that persuaded him to swap Central Asia for East Asia, ahead of the Hong Kong club’s AFC Cup campaign.
The much-travelled centre-back, who was most recently in Kazakhstan but has also played his club football in Russia, Serbia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Indonesia and Kyrgystan, helped Eastern win both of their group stage games in June to advance to the competition’s knockout rounds for the first time.
Next up are Uzbekistan side PFC Sogdiana Jizzakh in the Inter-Zone semi-final on Tuesday, with Roberto Losada’s team just two games away from the continental final.
“When I got the offer to join Eastern I realised this was a team that has set big targets for itself which I wanted to be part of,” Kozubaev said.
“The team were playing in the AFC Cup and had previously played in the AFC Champions League so, with Hong Kong teams also in the AFC Champions League every year, the move offered me a new challenge and the chance of a good experience in a nice city.”
Having been eliminated at the group stage in 2021, finishing behind fellow Hong Kong side Lee Man FC, Eastern got their revenge this time round as they kicked off their campaign in the Thai city of Buriram with a 3-1 win over their domestic rivals, in which Spanish forward Victor Bertomeu scored twice.
Bertomeu added another when Eastern followed up that victory by beating Taiwan’s Tainan City FC by the same scoreline, meaning Kozubaev, who was part of Kyrgyzstan side FC Dordoi’s 2017 group stage campaign, also ensured he would appear in the latter stages of the tournament for the first time.
