DUSHANBE, 13.09.2019. (NIAT Khovar) – Serbian specialist Dejan Dedovic has been appointed as the new head coach of the national futsal team of Tajikistan, reported the Football Federation of Tajikistan.

The presentation of the new coach took place yesterday in the Office of the Football Federation of Tajikistan.

Dedovic will combine the post of the head coach of the Khujand’s futsal club Sipar and the country’s national team.

“To lead the Tajik national team is a big challenge for me. The previous head coach Hussein Shodiev and the coach of the U-20 youth team Eraj Nosehov will help me as the coaching staff of the Tajik national team. My task is to bring the Tajik team to the Asian Championship 2020,” said Dedovic.

“In the qualifying tournament, which will be held from October 23 through October 25 in Iran, we will play in one group with Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Nepal. There will be three different matches with rivals of different styles. We need to win two victories in order to reach the Asian Championship,” added Dedovic.

“We have exactly one month to prepare for the qualifying round. Next week we will begin to prepare for the friendly matches against the UAE and Bahrain, which will be held on September 25-26 and September 29-30 respectively in Dubai and Manama. Fourteen players will be called up for these friendly matches,” noted Dedovic.

“I analyzed the last ten matches of the Tajik futsal team and submitted my report to the Football Federation of Tajikistan. We need to change the players’ mentality so that they have a winning spirit,” said Dedovich.