Iskra-Stal's CIS Cup opponent beats Rubin's 2nd team

Tajikistani FC Istiqlol has held its first exhibition match at the training camp in Kazan to prepare for the CIS Cup 2011, according to  fc-istiklol.tj.

Alimjan Rafikov's team faced Rubin's second team. The game that was held on the artificial turf of the Central Stadium today, on Jan. 8, resulted in the Dushanbe-based team's 2-0 victory.

Fathullo Fathulloyev scored the first goal in the 26^th minute. After one of the signature combinations of the team Farkhod Tokhirov sent the ball to Fathullo Fathulloyev who smashed a low shot into the far corner. Manuchekhr Dzhalilov, ex Lolomotiv-2 player (Moscow), doubled the lead of his squad in the 63th minute. He took a shot outside the box which caught Rubin's goalkeeper by surprise. It is still undecided whether Manuchekhr Dzhalilov will participate in the CIS Cup.

Unfortunately, 33-year-old Rubin player Odil Irgashev was injured in the second half. Medical examination will decide whether the injury is serious and whether he will participate in the next few matches of the Dushanbe-based club.

Istiqlol head coach Alimjan Rafikov has summed up the results of the game in an interview to the club's official site:

 "The result is not so important at this stage of training, performance is much more important. We still have some time until the CIS Cup starts. I think we should work on our strategy a little so we have what to do".

CIS Cup 2011 groups:

Group A: Inter (Baku, Azerbaijan), Iskra-Stal (Rîbniţa, Moldova), Istiqlol (Dushanbe, Tajikistan), Neftchi (Kochkor Ata, Kyrgyzstan).

Group B: Tobol (Kostanay, Kazakhstan), Skonto (Riga, Latvia), MIKA (Yerevan, Armenia), Bunyodkor (Tashkent, Uzbekistan).

Group С: Zenit (St. Petersburg, Russia), Nebitchi (Balkanabat, Turkmenistan), Shakhtyor (Soligorsk, Belarus), Flora (Tallin, Estonia).

Group D: Russia national under-21 football team, Dynamo (Kyiv, Ukraine), HJK (Helsinki, Finland), Ekranas (Panevėžys, Lithuania).