Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Tashkent: Lokomotiv Tashkent captain Timur Kapadze knows time is running out in his bid to add an AFC Champions League winners medal to his impressive collection as sets his sights on a fourth appearance in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League.
The 35-year-old former Uzbekistan international has played in three AFC Champions League semi-finals but has yet to appear in the final of the continental club championship.
That is a record, however, he is aiming to rewrite in the current edition of the AFC Champions League, with Lokomotiv due to face Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the second leg of this year’s competition next week.
“When I was younger, if we lost the game there wasn’t much pressure on me,” says Kapadze, whose side drew 0-0 with Al Ain in the first leg of their quarter-final meeting last month.
“Now I’m team captain and my age is a little higher and there’s more pressure because this might be my last chance. I’m always thinking about this. There is pressure on me. More than anything, I want to win this title. When I was younger, I used to think there would be another chance. But I can’t say that any more.
“Whether I like it or not, age plays a role in football, but football isn’t an individual game, it’s a team game. If it was individual game I could think what can I do against my opponent, but I have to think about my team mates and what they are thinking. You cannot think about yourself, it’s about the team.
“Lokomotiv is a new team in the AFC Champions League and this is the first time we have qualified for the quarter-finals. We don’t know if it will happen again so as team captain I tell the players to keep going because we don’t know if it will happen again or not.”
Kapadze knows all about the disappointment of losing in the latter stages of the competition.
He was a member of the Pakhtakor side that was defeated in the semi-finals by Thailand’s BEC Tero Sasana in 2003, the competition’s inaugural year, before slipping up against Seongnam Ilhwa Chunman a year later at the same stage.
He was then at the heart of the Bunyodkor side that promised much but fell short in 2008, when they lost to Adelaide United in the last four and, with time ticking down on his career, he knows the chances of claiming the continental club crown are running out.
“The most disappointing game was the one against BEC Tero Sasana from Thailand because they weren’t stronger than us,” says Kapadze of the 3-2 aggregate defeat in 2003. “We only made one or two mistakes and we won at home, but goal difference helped BEC Tero to qualify.
“When I think about the game against Adelaide with Bunyodkor, they were not stronger than us, maybe at the same level. But we lost the first game 3-0 and everything happened in this game and it meant that in the next game we didn’t have a big chance.”
Those losses, though, have only heightened his desire to finally add an AFC Champions League winners medal to a resume that features 10 Uzbek league titles and an appearance at the semi-finals of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.
“I’ve played with three Uzbek clubs in this tournament and this is the most prestigious tournament in Asia,” he says. “Every player wants to play in the AFC Champions League, and it doesn’t matter if it’s an Uzbek club or a club from the Emirates or a Saudi club. It doesn't’ matter. Every club wants to participate and to win this tournament.
“I played with Pakhtakor and we reached the semi-finals, and also with Bunyodkor and now I’m trying to win it with Lokomotiv and it’s a big thing for us.
“In the AFC Champions League there are a lot of strong teams and all the teams are champions or cup winners of their own country, so there’s a big difference. Each game is like a final and you try to show your best.”
Photo: Lagardère Sports