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The Russian national squad has arrived in Brazil for its first World Cup appearance in 12 years. Led by Fabio Capello, the team of young talents will work hard to ensure they reach the knockout stage or come close to repeating their success at Euro 2008 when they won bronze. Two of its forwards, Andrey Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko, were picked for the UEFA tournament squad.
Capello name his final lineup after a 1-1 draw in a friendly against Norway but had to revise it after it was announced that captain Roman Shirokov, currently playing for FC Krasnodar, would have to undergo surgery in Finland. It’s a serious loss for the former Zenit St Petersburg leader has always proved to be a strong player on the pitch.
Below is the revised Russia squad:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeyev (CSKA Moscow), Yury Lodygin (Zenit St Petersburg), Sergey Ryzhikov (Rubin Kazan).
Defenders: Vasily Berezutskiy (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Granat (Dynamo Moscow), Andrey Eshchenko (Anzhi Makhachkala), Sergey Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Alexey Kozlov (Dynamo Moscow), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), Andrey Semenov (Terek Grozny), Georgy Schennikov (CSKA Moscow).
Midfielders: Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Igor Denisov (Dynamo Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Yury Zhirkov (Dynamo Moscow), Alexey Ionov (Dynamo Moscow), Pavel Mogilevets (Rubin Kazan), Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Victor Faizulin (Zenit St Petersburg), Oleg Shatov (Zenit St Petersburg).
Forwards : Maxim Kanunnikov (Amkar Perm), Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St Petersburg), Alexander Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow).
Fabio Capello is set to stay with Russia until the 2018 World Cup that the country will host. The national team manager has extended his contract with the Russian Football Union until 2018. Earlier, Russia-IC reported that the head of the Russian Football Union, Nikolay Tolstykh, wanted to get the deal closed as soon as possible. Russia is satisfied with the national team's progress, he was quoted as saying.
The Italian coach has been working with the national team since July 26, 2012. Nikolay Tolstykh declined to give out any details of the contract, including the salary. But according to his deputy, Nikita Simonyan, the national team’s coach will have Russian assistants.
Many commentators have welcomed the move while eithers were cautious pointing to fact that long-term relationship could demotivate the Italian coach. Capello is yet to lead Russia at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, they argue.
However, all fans and experts are unanimous that Fabio Capello has been instrumental in getting Russia to its first World Cup since 2002, beating Portugal in the fight for the top place in table. The Russian national football team will be facing Belgium, Algeria and South Korea in Group H
.
The draw that took place on Friday in Mata de São João has made Russian fans happy because Russia managed to avoid any death groups.
The first match is slated for June 17 against South Korea, five days later Russia take on Belgium. The final game of the Group stage will take place on June 27 against Algeria.
The 2014 World Cup will take place in 12 Brazilian cities from June 12 to July 13.
Sources: http://www.bbc.com http://www.newsru.com
Author: Mikhail Vesely
