List of Russia
The coach of the Russian national football team, Stanislav Cherchesov, today announced a provisional list of 28 players for the World Cup, in which only three players from the squad compete in the local league.
Cherchesov's list includes seven additional reserve players for a total of 35, although, barring any unforeseen circumstances, none of them will be part of the pre-World Cup training that Russia will host from June 14 to July 15.
The biggest star of Russia is striker Fedor Smolov, a former Feyenoord player who currently plays for Krasnodar. In addition, there will be experienced players such as midfielder Alan Dzagoev and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, as well as talented twins Anton and Alexey Miranchuk, from the newly crowned Lokomotiv Moscow.
However, the backbone of the team is composed of players from Zenit Saint Petersburg, CKSA Moscow, and Spartak Moscow.
The three players who play abroad are goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov (Club Brugge), defender Roman Neustaedter (Fenerbahce), and forward Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal).
Also on the list is Rubin Kazan defender Ruslan Kambolov, who was previously investigated by FIFA for alleged doping. The case, opened based on the McLaren Report on doping in Russian sports, was closed last month due to lack of evidence, according to the player's lawyers.
On the other hand, the injured Alexander Kokorin will not be included, and he was replaced by Artem Dzyuba from Arsenal Tula.
The 28 selected players will meet on May 18 at the Novogorsk Center in Moscow, and then travel to Austria on May 20 to continue training. As part of their preparation, Russia will face the Austrian national team on May 30 in Innsbruck and will play against Turkey in Moscow on June 5.
Russia will make their World Cup debut on June 14 against Saudi Arabia and will complete their participation in Group A against Uruguay and Egypt. The final list of 23 players must be announced on June 4.
Goalkeepers:
Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Gabulov (Club Brugge), Soslan Dzhanaev (Rubin Kazan), Andrey Lunev (Zenit Saint Petersburg).
Defenders:
Vladimir Granat (Rubin Kazan), Ruslan Kambolov (Rubin Kazan), Fedor Kudryashov (Rubin Kazan), Ilya Kutepov (Spartak Moscow), Roman Neustaedter (Fenerbahce), Konstantin Raush (Dinamo Moscow), Andrey Semenov (Ahmat Grozny), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Mario Fernandes (CSKA Moscow).
Midfielders:
Yury Gazinsky (Krasnodar), Alexander Golovin (CSKA Moscow), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Alexander Erokhin (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Yury Zhirkov (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Roman Zobnin (Spartak Moscow), Daler Kuzyaev (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Anton Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Alexander Samedov (Spartak Moscow), Alexander Tashaev (Dinamo Moscow), Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal).
Forwards:
Artem Dzyuba (Arsenal Tula), Alexey Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Fedor Smolov (Krasnodar), Fedor Chalov (CSKA Moscow).
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