The Uzbekistan national football team has been preparing for the World Cup with a series of friendly matches in New York and Edmonton, Canada. The squad is currently based at a training camp in Atlanta, Georgia, where it is getting ready for group-stage matches against Colombia, Portugal and DR Congo.

At the same time, the team’s “twelfth player” — its supporters — have been preparing their own program to back the squad. As part of the national fan club operated by the Uzbekistan Football Association, supporters will attend matches against Portugal and DR Congo on 23 and 28 June in Houston and Atlanta.

The national fan club under the Uzbekistan Football Association was founded in 2007. Two years later, supporters from Andijan, now known as Ultras Burgut or Eagles, travelled to Egypt as part of the fan group. They are among the most active supporter groups in Uzbekistan. Their songs, chants and performances have gained increasing attention in recent years, and their song Andijonliklar Keldi! (The People of Andijan Have Arrived!) has become a symbolic anthem of the fan movement.

At the end of May, Gazeta correspondent Otabek Turdiyev visited Andijan to attend one of the fan club’s rehearsals and experience the unique passion of local football supporters.

Head of the Andijan fan club Nodirjon Tuychiyev said the supporters’ activities have received attention from the public, athletes, sports officials and national leadership.

“Our president has also given very serious instructions. A trip to the World Cup is not something everyone can experience. This is our dream,” he said.

He added that supporters shared song lyrics through Telegram channels. Eagles expect fans across the country to learn and perform the same chants. The lyrics are written by fans themselves and often include variations of the word "Uzbekistan".

G‘ayra-g‘ayra, dam-badam,
Oromijonimsan mani.
G‘ayra-g‘ayra, dam-badam,
O'zbekiston mani...

Interpretation:
G‘ayra-g‘ayra, dam-badam,
You are the peace of my soul.
G‘ayra-g‘ayra, dam-badam,
You are my Uzbekistan...

The Andijan supporters also prepare to perform well-known national songs, including "O'zbegim" by Sherali Jo‘rayev, "O'zbekiston Vatanim" by Yalla, as well as "Khorezm Lazgi" and "Andijon Polkasi".

According to fans, chants are only part of the atmosphere. Synchronized movements, dancing, raised hands and applause are also important. They believe this energy gives the players fighting spirit and makes the stadium experience more engaging for fans.

During rehearsals, he corrects fellow supporters and instructs them that their hands must always be raised.

"Stop standing around with your hands in your pockets and acting important. [The Football Association] will provide clothing, scarves and other items. We will wear them at the match. We must look respectable because everyone will be watching. This is a major event," he said.

Tuychiyev stressed that fans were traveling to the World Cup "not to play or rest, but exclusively to create atmosphere, support the team and cheer them on". He added that this would also be the first time traditional Uzbek musical instruments such as karnay, surnay and drums would be heard in the stands at a World Cup.

The fan club's lead drummer Muhammadjon Tulakov has been part of Ultras Burgut since 2006. He works as a gravedigger, performs at weddings and says he finds peace of mind among football supporters.

He has travelled around the world with the Uzbekistan national team thanks to his drum, visiting Indonesia, Qatar, Bahrain and France twice.

Entrepreneur Dilshodbek Abdurakhimov is another devoted member of the fan club. He said this was where he "rests his soul", coming to dance, unwind and feel young again.

He recalled that when FC Andijan was relegated to a lower division in 2005, the club lost attention and "the players barely had anything to eat". At the time, he ran a shop and personally supplied the team with flour, onions, potatoes, eggs and meat.

“My family was against it. They would ask: 'Why are you doing this instead of providing for your own children? What do you get from football?' I did it because I love football. But women, of course, think first about the family,” Tuychiyev said.

He remembered how his father took him to football matches when he was a schoolboy, and how he sometimes skipped classes just to attend games.

"Back then, I often wondered whether we would ever be able to support our teams the way people do abroad. Now we have reached that point. In those days, people used to mock us, saying: 'Twenty-two madmen are chasing a ball, and you keep shouting for them.'"

Today, Tuychiyev is widely known across Uzbekistan’s supporter movement. The world has seen him and his group marching through the streets of Paris singing: "The Baburids have arrived, the Timurids have arrived!"