Kazakhstan's Dastan Satpayev stars in British football satire
17-year-old Kazakh football player Dastan Satpayev has become the subject of the latest animated satire by British caricaturist Hamid Sahari, whose Instagram account has more than 7.7 million followers, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Sahari is known for creating short animated satirical stories inspired by world football.
In the animation, newly appointed Chelsea head coach Xabi Alonso is portrayed as relying on aging players, caricatured with walking sticks, missing teeth and trembling hands. The sight draws laughter from representatives of Chelsea's Premier League rivals — Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Manchester City — who taunt Alonso by waving a set of dentures at him.
In response, Alonso presses a red elevator button, and the doors slide open to reveal a young, muscular Satpayev wearing Chelsea's No. 36 shirt. The laughter from the rival club representatives quickly fades as the Kazakh forward races across the pitch at blistering speed. In the final scene, Satpayev effortlessly lifts a barbell with one hand while Alonso smiles from atop it. As the stunned representatives look on, Satpayev, standing before a giant Kazakh flag in a Chelsea jersey, points to his squad number.
The animation drew an enthusiastic response from Kazakh fans, who flooded the comments section with national flags and fire emojis, praising the creator and describing Satpayev as the pride of the country.
The official Kazakhstan national football team account also joined the discussion, commenting: "Our golden boy."
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that young Kazakh football player had scored his first goal for Chelsea in a preseason friendly against Australia's Western Sydney Wanderers FC.
