Uzbekistan U-23 to Play Russia U-21 in Antalya Friendly

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Russia’s U-21 national football team will play friendly matches against Uzbekistan and Jordan U-23 sides during a training camp in Antalya, Türkiye. The matches are scheduled for March 27 and March 30, the Russian Football Union (RFU) reported.

The training camp on the Turkish coast includes 23 players selected from an extended list of 39 candidates. Among them are Zenit St. Petersburg midfielders Daniil Kondakov and Andrey Kasadzhikov.

The youth teams of Russia and Uzbekistan last met in June last year in Ferghana, where the Russian side recorded wins of 3–0 and 6–3. Russia’s U-21 team will face Jordan for the first time.

“We played Uzbekistan twice in June in Ferghana, and the matches were intense and high-scoring. This time the opponent will field players of the same age group as last year, while our squad has been significantly renewed. Jordan will bring an even more experienced U-23 lineup.

In January, that team reached the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup, losing to Japan on penalties,” said Ivan Shabarov, senior coach of Russia’s U-21 national team.