Shakhtar Football Club Secondary Coach Berik Rakhimbekov completed a one-year internship in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil as part of the state-supported programme at the Olé Brazil Academy. The club’s press service recently released an interview with him to learn about his training.
Berik Rakhimbekov
“I have the best impressions from undergoing an internship in a country where football is a religion – it is a priceless experience. First of all, I got the most important thing a coach could get, the experience. Also, what made me glad was to find out that there is a lot of competition. Each player has to battle for his slot on the roster with the best of the best. The infrastructure is at the highest level and football fields are almost perfect. I once more was convinced that football in Brazil is the number one sport,” he said.
The coach didn’t travel to the academy alone, as young Karaganda footballers also took part in the internship.
“Initially, three Karaganda footballers got the opportunity to train in Brazil. One of them, after a year of training in Brazil, joined the secondary Shakhtar roster. And two Karaganda residents, Sergei Komarov and Ruslan Alimbayev, completed a full course of three years,” Rakhimbekov explained, adding “they really want to contribute their personal efforts into development of the sport in Kazakhstan. They learned more than enough in Brazil.”
Rakhimbekov noted that the young footballers are still in school and education is a priority while giving their best to become professional footballers.
“By our standards, their day starts very early. They get up at 6:30 a.m., have breakfast at 7 a.m. and at 8 a.m. they start the training. The training lasts about an hour and a half with an emphasis on team tactics and coordination. Lunch is at 11:30 a.m. From 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., they get to rest. At 3 p.m., they start the second workout. The second session, however, didn’t take place on a daily basis but included a trip to the gym. Then dinner and after dinner different teachers came to teach school subjects. It is important to get an education for them as they’re still school kids.”
The coach doesn’t exclude the possibility that any of these kids could become part of the Karaganda club, however, he said this would depend on their performance.
Rakhimbekov is also convinced that Kazakhstan’s coaches are very capable.
“Kazakhstan’s coaches are in no way inferior to foreign ones. In my opinion, in order to make a big leap forward, we need a well-developed infrastructure that would allow us to expand our capabilities,” he said.
According to the Kazakh coach, who happened to witness the World Cup in Brazil, the country glowed with bright yellow and green colours. Although he didn’t have the chance to attend any of the games, he said he could feel the city vibe during the event.
“I wanted to see our neighbour Russia play in the final rounds, of course. But in general, Holland showed a good game, Germany – no need for words, but emotions. Themostimportantthingisthatthefootballwasspectacularandentertaining.”
