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Photo Credit: http://www.footballhd.ru
Fabio Capello has put together a new team ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifiers as the pressure mounts on him after the squad’s boring display at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The vast majority of pundits blamed him for dropping rising star Artiom Dzyuba, who finished the previous season as the top scorer of the Russian Premier League. Capello has lamented many times that good Russian forwards are few and far between but didn’t pick the Spartak player on his lineup.
This time Dzyuba cannot be ignored. The aggressive forward scored 4 goals in three games for Spartak.
The red-and-white’s goalkeeper also got a call to join the national team after a stunning save series in a derby against CSKA Moscow.
Many are now questioning Akinfeyev’s role as the undeniable leader in the net after two fatal slips back in Brazil.
Here’s how the Russian squad looks like ahead of the friendly against Azerbaijan on September 3 and the first Euro 2016 qualifying match against Lichtenstein on September 9.
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeyev (CSKA Moscow), Yury Lodygin (Zenit St Petersburg), Artyom Rebrov (Spartak Moscow).
Defenders: Alexey Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Vasily Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Sergey Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Kirill Nababkin (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Granat (Dynamo Moscow), Andrey Eshchenko (Kuban Krasnodar), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow), Evgeny Makeyev (Spartak Moscow), Sergey Parshivlyuk (Spartak Moscow), Andrey Semenov (Terek Grozny), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit St Petersburg).
Midfielders: Yury Gazinsky (Krasnodar), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moscow), Igor Denisov (Dynamo Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Kirill Panchenko (CSKA Moscow), Pavel Mogilevets (Rubin Kazan), Magomed Ozdoyev (Rubin Kazan), Dmitry Tarasov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Victor Faizulin (Zenit St Petersburg), Oleg Shatov (Zenit St Petersburg).
Forwards: Artiom Dzyuba (Spartak Moscow), Alexey Ionov (Dynamo Moscow), Maxim Kanunnikov (Rubin Kazan), Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St Petersburg), Alexander Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow), Dmitry Poloz (Rostov), Alexander Samedov (Lokomotiv Moscow), and Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal CF).
Fabio Capello, who’s been working with the national team since July 26, 2012, 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 even before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Earlier, Russia-IC reported that the head of the Russian Football Union, Nikolay Tolstykh, wanted to get the deal closed as soon as possible. Many commentators have challenged the move over Russia’s lackluster performance at the championship.
Author: Mikhail Vesely
