Kasimov bows out in style

AFC – Mirdjalal Kasimov was given the perfect send-off as spell as head coach of Kuruvchi (Bunyodkor) came to an end with a 5-1 demolition of Saipa that sent the Uzbeks through to the ACL semi-finals.

The Uzbek side were held to a 2-2 draw by 2007 Iran Pro League champions in Tehran last week but turned on the style on Wednesday at MHSK Stadium with Chilean striker Jose Luis Villanueva netting a hat-trick.

Former World Player of the Year Rivaldo converted from the penalty spot and his Brazilian compatriot Luizao was also on target for Kuruvchi while Saber Mirghorbani scored Saipa’s lone goal as the hosts cruised to an emphatic 7-3 aggregate victory.

Kasimov was delighted with the performance of the team, who have reached the last four of Asia’s biggest club competition in only their fourth year of existence.

“I’m happy because my team reached the semi-finals and because we played very good football today,” said the Uzbek football legend, who felt that Villanueva’s first two goals, scored in the opening 16 minutes were key to their huge win.

“I need to say that Saipa are a very strong team. They have good players as well as a good coach in Pierre Littbarski.

“But we were lucky to score in the early minutes of the game and that helped to make our task much easier.”

Kasimov was only appointed as Kuruvchi coach in late 2007 but leaves after less than a year to take over from Rauf Inileev as national coach of Uzbekistan in an attempt to revive their flagging World Cup qualifying campaign.

While former Japan coach Zico has already been lined up as Kasimov’s replacement at Kuruvchi, Kasimov insisted that his focus was completely on the club on Wednesday.

“I was not thinking about the national team yet as I was concentrating on the match against Saipa,” he said.

“But from now on, I’m free from my Kuruvchi duties and I’ll start to think about the national team job.”