Atlanta United welcomed the Uzbekistan national team on Wednesday afternoon under sweltering Georgia heat. But if you ask the players, it already feels like home.
“It’s OK for us because in Uzbekistan, I think it’s the same weather right now,” Uzbekistan winger Abbosbek Fayzullaev said. “I think 45 (degrees Celsius) maybe.”
While the FIFA World Cup first-timer jokingly exaggerated, it was 99 degrees Fahrenheit in the capital city of Tashkent. Uzbekistan held its first training session in an open session in front of several Uzbek fans, including some who drove in from Nashville, Tennessee, after learning about it through ChatGPT.
Meanwhile, for Atlanta United, it’s a vision becoming reality after two and a half years.
“I’m super excited to host not just a team, but a team who’s experiencing their first World Cup (which) is pretty awesome,” Atlanta United senior vice president of strategy Dimitrios Efstathiou said. ”So we are fully ready to go for the full month with them. We hope that we get them staying even longer than those three games.”
Uzbekistan opens its group stage in Mexico City against Colombia, then moves to Houston to face Portugal before returning to Atlanta to round out its group matches against the Democratic Republic of Congo on June 27.
This isn’t the first time United has hosted a national team. In fact, just a few months ago, when the U.S. men’s national team played a pair of friendlies at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in March, the club hosted Mauricio Pochettino’s squad before the U.S. Soccer National Training Center opened in May.
The biggest lesson learned? Grass. Perhaps, no surprises there.
“We brought in completely brand new, thick-cut sod here,” Efstathiou said. “We weren’t messing around; we said we want only the best.”
Efstathiou said the new pitches were laid down about six weeks ago after a couple of trucks drove in the goods. The grass wasn’t from Georgia, as it has become a premium recently, but he said it’s still from the Southeast.
In addition, United prepared to host a national team while simultaneously not displacing the Five Stripes, who resume activities next week during the international break. Efstathiou said the club is the only facility in the U.S. where a national team and a professional squad are training in separate designated spaces.
While the Uzbeks occupied the two main fields on Wednesday, local youth players had the opportunity to participate in a skills challenge and meet the national players.
“This tournament doesn’t mean much if it doesn’t connect with the community,” Efstathiou said. “And when I say the community, I’m talking specifically the kids in and around Marietta.”
It’s just as special for the White Wolves, who enter their first World Cup.
“I think it will be a very emotional, emotional day in the first match,” Fayzullaev said. “To hear the national anthem in a big stage like this World Cup, it’s an honor for all the people in Uzbekistan. They’ve been waiting for this like 34 years, and I think it will be amazing and huge honor for everybody.”
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