Turkmenistan Olympic team named

Ashgabat: Turkmenistan Olympic side coach Amanklych Kochumov has named a 21-member squad for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics Asian qualifiers second round (19 and 23 June).

The Turkmen have been drawn to play Syria with the first leg scheduled to be held at the neutral Prince Mohamed Stadium in Zerqa City, Jordan. The return leg will be played in Ashgabat.

Turkmen star striker Ruslan Mingazov, 19, has been dropped by Kochumov because of his European Cup club commitments for Riga.

"For us, this (Mingazov’s absence) is a serious loss, " Kochumov told www.the-AFC.com.

"Most of the players on the Olympic team had 18 games in the national championship. Therefore the main task for us now is to determine the physical condition of each and help to approach the match against Syria in an optimal manner.

"The strength of Syrian football is enough to judge by their clear statement of the national team in the final tournament of the AFC Asian Cup 2011 in Qatar, as well as the participation of clubs of this country in the preliminary round of the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup group stages. Our tactics will be finalised just before the game,” said the tactician.

Turkmenistan recently lost to Jordan 2-3 in a preparatory friendly.


The squad

Goalkeepers - Batir Geldyev (Ashkhabad), Kurbanmurad Karaev (MTTU)

Defenders - Shokhrat Soyunov, Hema Komekov, Serdar Annaorazov (all  MTTU), Dovran Orazaliyev, Yagshigeldy Taganov, Ahmed Atayev (all Ashgabat);

Midfielders - Suleiman Orazov, Elman Tagaev, Didar Durdiyev, Ata Geldyev, Ikhlas Magtymov (all Ashgabat) Begench Annagurbanov (Altyn Asyr), Ilya Tamurkin, Umidjan Astanov (both Merv), Tirkeshmurad Rejepov (Akhal);

Forwards - Vakhit Orazsahedov (Rubin, Russia), Arslanmurad Amanov (MTTU), Alexander Boliyan (Akhal) Aghajan Molladurdyev (Talyp Sport).