Eldor Shomurodov #14

Profile

Uzbekistan’s captain and all-time record goalscorer, and the first Uzbek footballer to score in Italy’s Serie A, Shomurodov was born in 1995 in Jarkurgan district, Uzbekistan’s southernmost region. His father, two uncles, and his older brother were all football players. “I remember we had many cows and sheep at home,” Shomurodov recalled. “All of my friends and cousins loved football. Parents would say: ‘First we tend to the livestock, then we go to the stadium.’” He began attending the local football school at the age of six, and at 12 he moved 180 miles away to Muborak to join Mash’al’s academy. When Rivaldo arrived at Bunyodkor in 2008, his first match in Uzbekistan was played in Muborak against Mash’al – and Shomurodov was the mascot who walked with him onto the pitch. “It was incredible – one of the best players in the world took me onto the field! I will never forget that moment,” he said. Shomurodov grew up as a fan of Chelsea, after being given a kit by an uncle when he was seven. “I always dreamed of meeting Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba and getting their autographs,” he said.

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