In anticipation of the question of what lied behind the early victory in the championship, as the six best teams still have their last matches to play, and whether it was a grown up level of Ardus or weak competition, Jahongir Usmanov, president of Ardus futsal club and vice-president of Futsal Association of Uzbekistan noted that this year’s championship was really difficult for the club.

Futsal Association gave special attention to increasing competition in the championship and has made serious changes in its formula. Having dropped out the weakest after the first stage, organizers have ensured much intense competition in the next stage. And when the list of top eight was shorted down to six teams there were no more easy matches. For example Ardus’s matches of against Lokomotiv (Tashkent) and Maxam-Chirchiq (Chirchiq) ended with only one ball in favor of the leader... It is only Ardus that grows by making reliance on their own wards. Other clubs are also becoming stronger. Indeed, the national futsal clubs have a loftier goal. It is to gain a place for the national team in the World Cup finals. It will take place in November in Thailand. The qualifier for the Asian teams seeking to travel to Bangkok will be the continent’s championships in May in Dubai, where the first four teams will get the tickets to the World Cup.

The World Cup for Uzbekistan national team, the twice silver medalists of the recent Asian Championships, is a challenge that mobilized all the efforts of the national association. Te national team has invited 37-year-old Patos Jose Maria Mendez to manage the team who has thoroughly worked out a training plan. One of the important parts will be a training camp in beginning today in Spain, during which the team will play a series of very important test matches. Participation of Ardus in the Asian Champions League, which is the basic club for the national team, also plays an important role. Western zone qualifying tournament involving such clubs as Al Rayan (Qatar), Al Karkh (Iraq), Nalogovik (Kyrgyzstan) and Al Wasl (UAE) along with champion of Uzbekistan will take place in Tashkent from March 19 to 24 at the Sports Complex Uzbekistan. And the final stage of the continent's club championship will be held in Kuwait on July 1-7.

The final round of the championship, which will be held in March in Tashkent, will play its role as well, as the race for the prizewinning places is not over yet. Maxam-Chirchiq, Lokomotiv and Bunyodkor are only three points behind the champion. No one wants to remain without medals. Ardusa will also have to prove the champion’s reputation.