K. Almaty – AZ Alkmaar ( Prediction & Picks (26.07.2018)

A historic race, so we can call the game of AZ against the Kazakh Kairat Almaty anyway. The Tsentralniy is, after all, as far away from the AFAS Stadium as Tokyo. It is for the troops of trainer John van den Brom to hope that the long flight does not bother them.

Kairat Almaty:

Kairat Almaty is traditionally the main club in the country. At the time of the Soviet Union, the yellow blacks were the only Kazakh club at the highest level, giving them the nickname The Nation’s Club. Nowadays they have had their leading position with arch-rival FC Astana, but thanks to the cup win in 2017 they are still allowed to dream of a European adventure. Then, however, there must first be settled with AZ.

The selection of Kairat Almaty is almost completely unknown to players who are totally unknown to me, although a player is emphatically in the eye. Former Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin has landed in Almaty in the last days of his career and despite his 37 years, is still the big star in the Spanish coach Carlos Alos. Midfielder Georgi Zhukov once defended a blue Monday the colors of Roda JC, but he could not break any pots in Kerkrade. Furthermore, we see some lost Hungarians and Brazilians. In terms of football ingenuity, Kairat Almaty will probably have to do it on Thursday afternoon, although the Kazakh people might be fitter than the AZ players. After all, the Kazakh competition ran throughout the summer and is now about halfway.

AZ:

In the past AZ had a supporter who visited all away games on the bike. It is a good thing that he has hung his two-wheeler by the willows, otherwise he would have needed the whole summer to cycle to Kazakhstan. As there are no direct aircraft from Schiphol, AZ has hired an aircraft for the occasion for the eight-hour flight of 5000 kilometers. Trainer John van den Brom, however, is not worried: “You are sitting with a time difference of four hours, but the conditions there are excellent. The stadium is beautiful, the turf is good and we are in a good hotel. In addition, the temperature is about the same as here. ‘

Despite the positive words of Van den Brom, AZ seems not ready for the new season yet. For example, Wout Weghorst moved to Wolfsburg in Germany this summer, and the Iranian star player Alireza Jahanbakhsh is reportedly close to a top transfer to Brighton in England and has not boarded the plane for the Kazakhstanian horizon. In the meantime AZ kept itself fairly calm on the transfer market, with goalkeeper Rody de Boer (Young Ajax) and Leon Bergsma (Telstar) as the only newcomers. The Alkmaarders, however, have the fullest confidence in their youth training, which in recent years has indeed delivered many talents.