KZBlog

Saturday is the big game. Kazakhstan and Germany for the World Cup qualifiers. It’s probably not much of a surprise that the ESPN Preview doesn’t look good for Kazakhstan. So far Kazakhstan hasn’t a won a game in their group (Germany, Austria, Turkey, Belgium and Azerbaijan) and Germany hasn’t lost a game.

I was surprised that the named Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev the player to watch:

An attacking midfielder and the creative heartbeat of the national team, Zhumaskaliyev is the top international scorer in Kazakhstan’s ranks, with six goals from 53 caps over the past ten years. Last season, he was named the Kazakhstan Premier League’s Player of the Year after captaining FC Torbol to a first ever title, netting 15 goals along the way. He netted the biggest goal in his country’s history when, in 2007, his header handed the side a shock 2-1 victory over Serbia.

I always keep my eye on Ostepenko personally.

Odds are 1.02 for a Germany win and they’re predicting a worse score than the (quite respectable) 3-0 defeat last time they met in Astana.