Behind the curtain

Dordoi Bishkek. Back LtoR: Baimatov, Tetteh, Murzaev, Samsaliev, Volkov, Sydykov. Front: Sharipov, Kharchenko, Kichin, Askarov, Tagoe

Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous and landlocked country in central Asia. They make them tough in the Kyrgyz Republic, as Phnom Penh Crown found out when they faced Neftchi in last season's AFC President's Cup. The country itself broke away from the former Soviet Union and declared independence on Christmas Day 1991 and was named the Kyrgyz Republic soon after. Bishkek is the capital with 1 million residents and that's where Dordoi hail from. They've been the top dogs in Kyrgyz football for the past decade, winning seven league titles as well as two AFC President's Cups and making the final on four other occasions. They are real heavyweights when it comes to this competition. Current coach Sergey Dvoryankov took charge in April 2008 and has guided the club to three President's Cup finals, though they've failed to win all three, so he is more determined than ever to make it fourth time lucky this year. He has a line-up packed with experienced professionals, with a couple of younger players thrown in for good measure. Effectively Dordoi have four foreigners in their team, though two have been in the country long enough to gain Kyrgyz citizenship. Let's take a look at their squad:

Captain Ruslan Sydykov at 33 is their oldest player and has been with the club all of his career aside from a three year stint in India. The country's footballer of the year in 2005 and 2006, he was skipper of Dordoi when they won back to back President's Cups in 2006 and 2007, and has 27 caps for the Kyrgyz national team. A year younger is fellow defender Talant Samsaliev, another who has been with Dordoi for more than a decade and served his club and country with distinction. Their number one goalkeeper is six-footer Vladislav Volkov, 31, and a Dordoi regular since his arrival from Abdish Ata-Kant in 2005. Like all of the team's homegrown players, Volkov is also a regular for the national team. Full-back Valerii Kichin is a mere pup by comparison, just 19 and a recent addition to the national team. Completing the back four is Daniel Tagoe from Ghana, one of their foreign players, who played for Berekum Arsenal in his home country and in Russia before joining Dordoi. Now 26, he was the Kyrgyz player of the year in 2009, the first foreigner to win the award in seventeen years.
Attacking midfielder David Tetteh, 26, also hails from Ghana though is now a naturalized player. He began with Cornerstones Kumasi in Ghana before a stint in Russia with Dinamo Moskva and joined Dordoi in 2008. Davron Askarov, at 24, has played with four clubs in Kyrgyz as well as a spell in France with Toulouse, and has 20 national caps to his name. Vadim Kharchenko, 27, recently switched his nationality to Russian after playing 28 times for the Kyrgyz national side. He joined Dordoi in 2006 after playing in Kazakhstan. Left winger Claude Maka Koum, 26, was born in Cameroon but is now a naturalized Kyrgyz citizen. Started out at Best Stars Limbe in Cameroon before spells in Russia and with two clubs in Moldova, FC Dacia and CF Gagauzia. Another tricky winger is Dordoi's second foreigner, Anderson de Souza, aka Dan Juan or Juan Carlos (select 1 name from three), who has played for clubs in his home country of Brazil, namely Ole Brasil and Votoraty.
Potent goalscorer with eight goals in his last two games is 22 year old national team pin-up, Mirlan Murzaev who also had experience in Russia with feeder team Locomotiv-2 Moscow and in Israel with Hapoel Petah Tikva after being named 2010 most valuable player in the AFC President's Cup with five goals, though his team lost in the final. He had already won the cup in 2007. He's also his country's leading goalscorer. Azamat Baimatov, 24, returned to Dordoi this year after spells in Latvia with FC Tranzits and Russia, while Kaiumzhan Sharipov, 20, joined from rivals Abish Ata-Kant.