Football players of "Arkadag" won the Super Cup of Turkmenistan. The team representing the "smart" city with the same name of national importance achieved this success by defeating "Ahal" in the decisive match - 3:1.
The Super Cup, established by the Football Federation of Turkmenistan, has been played between the champion and the winner of the country's Cup since 2005. Last year, "Arkadag" won the championship and the Cup of Turkmenistan, and "Ahal" took part in the Super Cup as a finalist of the country's Cup.
The decisive match for the third most important national trophy took place in Balkanabat at the "Sport toplumy" stadium.
The first goal did not have to wait long. In the 14th minute, Shamamed Hydyrov put "Arkadag" ahead – 1:0. In the 22nd minute, Shanazar Tirkishov increased the champion’s advantage to 2:0. Another 7 minutes later, Sh. Hydyrov scored a double, and the teams went into the break with the score 3:0 in favor of "Arkadag".
15 minutes before the end of regular time, "Ahal", thanks to the efforts of Islam Annamuradov, "opened" the score. But they could not achieve more.
Football club "Arkadag", which forms the backbone of the national team of Turkmenistan, was founded in 2023 and already in the year of its debut made a double - won the championship and the Cup of the country. It is noteworthy that since its foundation, this team has not lost a single point in official matches of the national championship and this year became the champion of Turkmenistan for the second time. And now it has won the third-ranking national trophy.
The 44-year-old former striker of the Turkmenistan national team, winner of the 2003/04 Russian Cup with "Terek" (Grozny) and the 2013 AFC President's Cup with "Balkan", Vladimir Bayramov, led FC Arkadag to this success as head coach.
In the autumn of this year, "Arkadag" successfully debuted in the third most important club tournament in Asia – the AFC Challenge League, taking first place in Group B, in which the Kuwaiti club "Al-Arabi", "Maziya Sports and Recreation" from the Maldives and "Abdysh-Ata" from Kyrgyzstan were also fighting for a place in the quarterfinals. In the 1/4 finals, FC "Arkadag" will play against the Indian club "East Bengal". The matches will be held on March 5 and 12, 2025 in the home and away format.
The AFC Challenge League, in which all teams will receive US $100,000 for participating in the group stage, aims to promote clubs from developing Asian leagues and showcase their talent.
