Big stars receive Russia recalls
Monday, September 25, 2006
Article summary
A number of high-profile players have returned to Guus Hiddink's Russia squad for next month's Group E engagements against Israel and Estonia on home soil.
Article body
Russia coach Guus Hiddink has named a 24-man squad for the upcoming UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers against Israel and Estonia.
Returning stars
There are no surprises in the selection which includes a number of players who were injured or suspended for Russia's Group E opener, the 0-0 draw against Croatia: captain Aleksei Smertin, Vassili Berezutski, Yegor Titov, Dmitri Loskov, Yuri Zhirkov and Aleksandr Kerzhakov all return. The squad will be cut from 24 players to 18 after next weekend's Russian top-flight fixtures. Hiddink's side play Israel in Moscow on 7 October before taking on the Estonians in St Petersburg four days later.
Russia squad
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (PFC CSKA Moskva), Dmitri Borodin (FC Torpedo Moskva), Viacheslav Malafeev (FC Zenit St. Petersburg).
Defenders: Aleksei Berezutski (PFC CSKA Moskva), Vassili Berezutski (PFC CSKA Moskva), Sergei Ignashevich (PFC CSKA Moskva), Denis Kolodin (FC Dinamo Moskva), Aleksandr Anyukov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Vadim Evseev (FC Lokomotiv Moskva).
Midfielders: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (FC Lokomotiv Moskva), Marat Izmailov (FC Lokomotiv Moskva), Dmitri Loskov (FC Lokomotiv Moskva), Evgeni Aldonin (PFC CSKA Moskva), Vladislav Radimov (FC Zenit St. Peterburg), Aleksei Smertin (FC Dinamo Moskva), Igor Semshov (FC Dinamo Moskva), Yegor Titov (FC Spartak Moskva), Yuri Zhirkov (PFC CSKA Moskva).
Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Aleksandr Kerzhakov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Dmitri Sychev (FC Lokomotiv Moskva), Roman Pavlyuchenko (FC Spartak Moskva), Pavel Pogrebnyak (FC Tom Tomsk), Ivan Saenko (1. FC Nürnberg).
