Unveiling mystery of the east

Jonathan Wilson examines what lies in store for Trap and his team in Astana tomorrow night

The main issue with Kazakhstan, of course, is the distance. Astana is five time zones away — as far to the east, in other words, as New York is to the west — and, when such a vast journey is necessary, it’s hard not to wonder whether Kazakhstan is really part of Europe at all. Even Kazakhstan seems unsure whether it’s in Asia or Europe and the truth is, it’s a bit of each. Kazakhstan straddles the Urals and, while the bulk of the country’s landmass may be to the east of them, the Russian influence remains strong.

In 2002, the Kazakh Football Federation (KSF) took the fateful decision to leave the Asian confederation (AFC) to join Uefa. “Our experts,” a KSF statement said, “are deeply convinced that our football today needs to be part of Uefa, which in our opinion has the most developed and progressive system of soccer in the world.”