Smakov is top man in Kazakhstan
Friday, December 21, 2007
Article summary
FK Aktobe and Kazakhstan's 29-year-old defender Samat Smakov has become the first player in his country to be named Footballer of the Year twice.
Article body
FK Aktobe and Kazakhstan defender Samat Smakov has become the first player in his country to be named Footballer of the Year twice.
Top man
The 29-year-old Aktobe captain has just lifted the fourth Kazakh Super League title of his career, with his fourth different club, and won the traditional poll conducted by national football weekly Goal. Smakov prevailed as the choice of some 491 players, coaches, club officials, ex-professionals and journalists. He had previously claimed the award in 2004.
Long-awaited goal
The 2005 winner, Kazakhstan skipper and FC Tobol Kostanay midfielder Nurbol Zhumaskaliyev, came second, with national-team goalkeeper David Loria – now in Sweden with Halmstads BK – finishing third. Full-back Smakov, whose previous championships had come with FC Yelimai Semei, FC Irtysh Pavlodar and FC Kairat Almaty, scored his first Kazakhstan goal in a 2-2 draw with Belgium in September. He has 47 caps.