Abduqodir Husanov: I Found My Game in the Belarus Championship

Uzbekistan national team player Abduqodir Husanov visited Belarus and met with Belarusian Sports Minister Sergey Kovalchuk, expressing gratitude to the Belarusian people and coach Anatoliy Yurevich.

Abduqodir Husanov is a graduate of the Bunyodkor club academy in Tashkent, but he never played an official match for the main team.

In 2022, at the age of 16, he moved to Minsk's Energetik-BGU club and started working under the guidance of Anatoliy Yurevich.

In the summer of 2023, the promising defender was bought by French club Lens for 450,000 euros. In January 2025, Manchester City acquired him for 40 million euros, which became a record transfer fee in the history of Uzbek football.

Abduqodir Husanov's transfer value is estimated to be around 50 million euros.

Sports.uz portal shares an interview given by Abduqodir Husanov to the sport5.by website during his visit to Belarus.

- I remember everything very well. I am grateful to Anatoliy Ivanovich Yurevich. It was he who helped me move to Lens. He gave me great help, and the Belarusian championship also helped me a lot.

- What do you remember most about your life in Belarus?

- Ivanich scolding me (laughs).

- Tell us about the time you injured your leg during training and endured the pain for a week...

- I got a blow to my leg, and at first, I felt a little pain. Anatoliy Ivanovich came up to me and said, "Go to training".

Then I was young and had not yet played in the Belarusian championship, so while my teammates were playing, I was just training.

The loads increased the pain. I thought I would go to the coach and ask for a break. Ivanich said, "We'll give you an injection".

Then I took some pills. I went out onto the field, played for 15 minutes, and then couldn't continue.

- How do you assess Uzbekistan's participation in the World Cup?

- For the first participation... We wanted to win, but we couldn't. We'll try next time.

- Who will win the World Cup?

- I don't know.

- Who do you support?

- Uzbekistan (laughs).

- And which other team?

- England.

- Because you have friends there?

- Yes, I do.