KAZAKHSTAN manager Michal Bilek is expecting a far tougher game from Scotland this evening than when he faced them with the Czech Republic in 2010 - and his opposite number Craig Levein fielded his infamous 4-6-0 formation.
Bilek was in charge of his native Czechs during their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign - and his side defeated the Scots 1-0 at home and drew 2-2 with them away as they clinched a place in the finals in Poland and Ukraine.
However, beating them in their first Group I meeting in Prague was made far easier when Levein stunned international football and opted to play without a striker in the Synot Tip Arena.
However, the 53-year-old, who took charge of Kazakhstan earlier this year, has studied Alex McLeish’s team closely since being drawn to face them in Euro 2020 qualifying and believes they are far more formidable now.
“I remember the Euro 2012 qualifying matches,” he said. “The current Scottish team is much better than the previous one in 2010. Because in the current team there are a lot of very fast players, especially the wingers, and they deliver the ball to the offence quickly and they play a very fast game. They are much better.
“When we started our preparation for the game against the Scottish national team we watched all of their games. We understand it is a very strong team. The philosophy of this team is fast delivery of the ball to close in to the goal to open it up.
“All of the Scottish players are very fast. Their attacks are very dangerous for us. The wide players are particularly fast and deliver the ball very quickly. We have explained to our players how we need to play the match. I hope that my team will do something super in tomorrow’s match.”
Kazakhstan have never made it through to a major tournament since they gained independence from the then Soviet Union back in 1991 and are not expected to challenge strongly for an automatic qualifying spot in a section that includes Belgium and Russia as well as Scotland.
However, Bilek, who took the Czech Republic through to the quarter-finals of Euro 2012 during his time in the dugout with his homeland, is optimistic his side can perform better than they have in previous attempts to reach the European Championship or World Cup finals and possibly pull off some upsets.
“One of the tasks of the team in these qualifiers is to gain more points and more wins than in previous campaigns," he said. "The favourites in our group are Belgium and there are also very strong teams like Scotland and Russia. But from our side we will do our best to make some surprises in this campaign.”
He certainly has some decent players at his disposal, not least Baktiyar Zaynutdinov, who plays in Russia with Rostov, Alexander Merkel, who is at Dutch club Heracles.
“Zaynutdinov has trained with Rostov and he has had two games,” he said. “He is a talented and technical player. Merkel plays abroad in the Dutch national league. He has played in every match for Heracles. He has a god understanding of football and is a good passer. Overall, he is a good player. These two players will be helpful for our team.”
“Merkel is now one of the best players at his club. We have seen the statistics of the Dutch championship. He has very good figures. Okay, it’s a fact that he hasn’t played for the national team for three and a half years. But when I met him and talked to him I asked him if he is ready. He said he is ready to play and is keen and eager to play.”
Bilek doesn’t feel the retirement of Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor from international football and the loss of Liverpool left back Andy Robertson will have an negative affect on the Scotland side in their opening qualifier.
“It’s football,” he said. “Sometimes, of course, players get injured. We, just like the Scottish team, have one or two injuries. We have two players injured, Bauyrzhan Islamkhan and Yuriy Logvinenko, out too. We will play without these injured layers. I hope the game will be good tomorrow.”
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