Russia line up for pressure game
Friday, October 5, 2007
Article summary
In the absence of starlets Igor Akinfeev and Vladimir Bystrov, coach Guus Hiddink has gone with experience for Russia's 17 October qualifier against England.
Article body
In the absence of starlets Igor Akinfeev and Vladimir Bystrov, Guus Hiddink has gone with experience for Russia's 17 October qualifier against England.
Long-term absentees
Wingers Yuri Zhirkov and Ivan Saenko have been selected after recovering from minor ailments, but goalkeeper Akinfeev and midfielder Bystrov remain long-term absentees with serious knee injuries. Russia are third in Group E, trailing second-placed England by two points. They will gather together in Moscow on 9 October to spend a week in training before the visit of England, who beat them 3-0 at Wembley in their last UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier.
Russia squad
Goalkeepers: Vyacheslav Malafeev (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Anton Shunin (FC Dinamo Moskva), Vladimir Gabulov (FC Kuban Krasnodar).
Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (PFC CSKA Moskva), Aleksei Berezutski (PFC CSKA Moskva), Vasili Berezutski (PFC CSKA Moskva), Denis Kolodin (FC Dinamo Moskva), Aleksandr Anyukov (FC Zenit St Petersburg).
Midfielders: Yuri Zhirkov (PFC CSKA Moskva), Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (FC Lokomotiv Moskva), Igor Semshov (FC Dinamo Moskva), Konstantin Zyrianov (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Dmitri Torbinskiy (FC Spartak Moskva), Andrei Arshavin (FC Zenit St. Petersburg).
Forwards: Ivan Saenko (1. FC Nürnberg), Pavel Pogrebnyak (FC Zenit St. Petersburg), Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Sevilla FC), Dmitri Sychev (FC Lokomotiv Moskva), Roman Pavlyuchenko (FC Spartak Moskva).
