Nematjan Zakirov (; born 1 January 1962) is a former

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

i international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. Head coach

FC Neftchi Kochkor-Ata Football Club Neftchi Kochkor-Ata (') is a Kyrgyz professional football club based in Kochkor-Ata. Founded in 1960, the club competes in the Kyrgyz Premier League. History Domestic Continental history Honours *Kyrgyzstan League **Champio ...

Career

Club

Born in Kochkor-Ata, Zakirov began playing football with local side Alga Frunze in the Soviet leagues. In 1992, he moved to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

for a spell with

Pirin Blagoevgrad Football club Pirin (), also known as Pirin Blagoevgrad is a Bulgarian football club based in Blagoevgrad, which currently competes in the Second League, the second division of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 2008, after a merger ...

in the

A PFG The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

. After 1.5 seasons with Pirin, Zakirov joined second division side

Velbazhd Kyustendil Velbazhd Kyustendil () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Kyustendil. The club currently competes in the A RFG Kyustendil, the fourth tier of Bulgarian football. The club was founded in 1919. Velbazhd have spent mos ...

. Following his stint in Bulgaria, Zakirov went to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

where he played for

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

and

Zhetysu Jetisu ( ) or Semirechye ( rus, Семиречье, p=sʲɪmʲɪˈrʲetɕje) or Heptopotamia is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the southeastern part of modern Kazakhstan. Name Jetisu is also transcribed Jeti-Suu (, ), Zh ...

. He finished his playing career back in Kyrgyzstan with

SKA-PVO Bishkek Football Club Alga Bishkek (') is a Kyrgyz professional football club based in Bishkek, that competes in the Kyrgyz Premier League, the top flight of Football in Kyrgyzstan. The club plays its home games at Dynamo Stadion. History Alga Bishkek ...

International

Zakirov made five appearances and scored one goal for

Kyrgyzstan national football team The Kyrgyzstan national football team (; ), officially recognised by FIFA and AFC as Kyrgyz Republic, represents Kyrgyzstan in international football and is controlled by the Kyrgyz Football Union, a member of the Asian Football Confederation ...

from 1999 to 2000.

Managerial

After he retired from playing, Zakirov became a football coach. He led Kyrgyzstan from 2003 to 2005, and again in 2007. Zakirov managed

Kyrgyzstan League The Kyrgyz Premier League () or OLIMPBET Premier League for Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes is the top division of professional football in Kyrgyzstan. It was created in 1992 after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union. The league is comp ...

side

FC Abdysh-Ata Kant FC Abdysh-Ata () is a professional football club based in Kant, Kyrgyzstan. It is named after a local brewery. FC Nashe Pivo is their farm club. History Domestic history Continental Honours *Kyrgyz Premier League **Winners (3): 2022, 20 ...

, and its second division farm team FC Zhivoye Pivo before becoming the manager of

Alga Bishkek Football Club Alga Bishkek (') is a Kyrgyz professional football club based in Bishkek, that competes in the Kyrgyz Premier League, the top flight of Football in Kyrgyzstan. The club plays its home games at Dynamo Stadion. History Alga Bishkek ...

in February 2013. He resigned in February 2014.

Career statistics

International

Honors

Club

;Alga Bishkek/SKA-PVO Bishkek *

(3);

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Kyrgyzstan Cup The Kyrgyzstan Cup (') is Kyrgyzstan's premier knockout tournament in men's football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost ...

(3): 1992, 2000, 2001

References

External links

* * 1962 births Living people Kyrgyzstani men's footballers Kyrgyzstan men's international footballers Kyrgyzstani expatriate men's footballers FC Alga Bishkek players OFC Pirin Blagoevgrad players Velbazhd Kyustendil players FC Jenis players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstani football managers Kyrgyzstan national football team managers FC Alga Bishkek managers Men's association football midfielders Soviet men's footballers {{Kyrgyzstan-footy-bio-stub