Mongolia Wraps Up Training Camp Matches

Limak Arcadia Sports Resort in Belek, Antalya, Turkey

In preparation for upcoming 2022 World Cup and Asian Cup qualification matches in March 2021, the Mongolian men's national team held a 16-day training camp in Antalya, Turkey at the Limak Arcadia Sports Resort. The camp included four friendly matches against club teams from around Eastern Europe. Below is a list results.

9 March 2021

On 9 March Mongolia played its first match in over a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the opening match of the training camp, the team took on FC Epitsentr Dunaivtsi. The team competes in the Ukraine's third division. It was evident that Mongolian players had built up some rust. The final score was 4-0 in favor of the Ukrainian side. In what the Ukrainians called a "decent match", their goals were scored by Roman Kuziv, Serhyi Ratsa, Mykola Buy, and Taras Plis .

13 March 2021

Mongolia's second match of the training camp was played against Çanakkale's Kepezspor of the Turkish third tier. Despite the Turkish club having ambitious investors with big pockets, Mongolia held the team to a scoreless draw until the final minute of the match. In the end, Mongolia lost 1-0.

16 March 2021

On 16 March Mongolia took on Ukrainian club LNZ-Lebedin. LNZ plays in the Ukrainian Amateur Football Championship which is tier 4 in the country. Mongolian star Ganbold Ganbayar arrived in Antalya the evening before and saw a few minutes of playing time. However, ultimately the Blue Wolves fell 0-2. LNZ's goals were scored by Puchkowski (32') and Storchous (51').

20 March 2021

In its last match of the training camp, Mongolia took on arguably its toughest opponent. The opposition was FC Tyumen of the Russian third division, the Russian Professional Football League. Despite playing against a fully-professional side and a hit post by Tyumen's Egor Glukhov, Mongolia was able to earn 0-0 a draw. About Mongolia's play, Glukhov said, "... it is worth noting that the rivals gave their best. They were physically well prepared. Of course, they did not succeed in many things, but the Mongols did everything to give us some problems. In the end- we could not beat them."

Mongolia will leave Turkey with some positive takeaways but the continued lack of scoring is still a concern. The national team will leave Antalya tomorrow and head for Dushanbe in preparation for its match against Tajikistan on the 25th. Five days later the team will take on Japan away in Chiba.

Highlights versus FC Epitsentr Dunaivtsi