Dinamo Tbilisi will compete with the champion of Kazakhstan FC Aktobe at UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. Our rival is the leader of Kazakh championship with 35 points after 17 rounds and has 5 points more than the team of the second place. Before arriving in Tbilisi the team will play 3 matches in local championship against its competitors-FC Astana and FC Kairat.
Aktobe was known as Aktyubinsk until 1999. It is located in west Kazakhstan. In 2012 it had population of 367 thousand. Majority of them, approximately 69% are Kazakhs.
Aktobe Central Stadium named after Koblandy Batyr is the main football arena for FC Aktobe. It was constructed in 1975.The stadium is one of the best attended in Kazakhstan with capacity of just under 13,500 people. The club was founded in 1967 and changed the name for several times during its history. The current name was given in 2005.
FC Aktobe became the champion of Kazakhstan Premier League for 5 times. It won the cup once and became the winner of silver and bronze medals for 2 times.
From 2005 year Aktobe is always among the best three teams of the country and plays on UEFA tournaments regularly. Our rival competed with Georgian teams twice and won both matches. In 2010 it defeated FC Olimpi Rustavi with the score 2:0 and 1:1. In 2012 Aktobe won against FC Torpedo Kutaisi with the score 1:0 and 1:1.
The team played in Europa League play-off for three times although it didn’t manage to overcome this stage. Its rivals were SV Werder, AZ Alkmaar and Dynamo Kiev last year.
Famous former footballer Vladimir Nikitenko is the head coach of the team. He played in FC Kairat Almaty for 10 years and is the records holder in Soviet championship according to played matches. He played 257 matches. 57 year-old Nikitenko works in Aktobe since 2013.
Several footballers of FC Aktobe are permanently called in Kazakhstan national team. Ukrainian player Antonov is the newcomer of the team. He played in national team in one of the last matches. Defender of Aktobe Robert primus is the player of national team of Trinidad and Tobago. Defender Arzumanyan and Brazilian naturalized player Pizzelli play in Armenian national team. There are two Brazilian players in Aktobe-defender Anderson Santana and forward Danilo Neco.