Changing belts: who will play for Russia against Nigeria and Belarus

The coaching staff of the national team, led by Valery Karpin, announced the final list of players who will take part in the June training camp. We are figuring out how strong our team will be for the matches against Nigeria in Moscow (June 6) and Belarus in Minsk (June 10). A total of 31 players were included in the final list. Interestingly, only one player has been called up from the current Russian champions, goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev.

Without Golovin and Zakharyan

The list has almost traditionally excluded most of the players playing abroad. So, only two have been called to the training camp — Matvey Safonov from PSG and Anton Miranchuk from Sion. Alexander Golovin (Monaco, France), Daler Kuzyaev (Le Havre), Arsen Zakharyan (Real Sociedad, Spain) and Alexey Miranchuk (Atlanta, USA) did not receive invitations. The situation with the latter was explained by the head coach of the national team, Valery Karpin.

— Miranchuk will play in the championship on June 1, — Karpin told the RFU press service. — Thus, he could arrive at the location of the national team only on the 3rd. Plus, you need to take into account the recovery time after jet lag. There would be few opportunities to involve Alexey. Given that Glushenkov, Gladyshev and Oblyakov were called to his position, they decided to give him the opportunity to skip this training camp.

Electoral progress: who will play for the Russian national team with Nigeria and Belarus

For the first time in a year, Matvey Safonov can join the national team, while Dzyuba, Chalov and Sobolev are out of the extended list.

Golovin is currently injured — he has not played since the beginning of April. Zakharyan is healthy, but he missed the entire season due to injuries and practically did not play for Real Sociedad. Kuzyaev has a similar situation.

Among the newcomers, CSKA player Jamalutdin Abdulkadirov should be singled out. The 20-year-old defender played three matches in the second half of the RPL season and got a chance to make his debut in the national team.

— Of course, I have only positive emotions from calling Jamalutdin to the main Russian national team, — the player's agent Taymaz Kharkharov told Izvestia. — It's nice that the guy I brought to the CSKA academy at the age of 15 is growing up from a young boy into a national team player before your eyes.

—Abdulkadyrov's challenge is more of an advance and an opportunity to show the player that we are watching him, that by continuing to perform well for the club, he will achieve a place in the national team,— Karpin said. — We keep an eye on the young players who are showing themselves in the RPL and the cup, we have debutants at almost every training camp. It is important that the young players soak up the atmosphere of playing for the main team, get acquainted with the requirements of the coaching staff.

One for all

The newly crowned champion of Russia sent only one participant to the national team — goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev.

"Stas has made a lot of progress in his game, first of all in terms of psychology and a strong mentality," said Vitaly Kafanov, the goalkeeper coach of the Russian national team. — Because the goalkeeper is under a lot of psychological pressure when the team is fighting for the championship, where every mistake costs not only lost points, but also gold medals. This means that Stas is already becoming a great goalkeeper.

Agkatsev and Safonov will be accompanied by the goalkeeper of the Moscow "Locomotive" Anton Mitryushkin. He replaced Evgeny Latyshonok, who was originally part of the team. Zenit's goalkeeper has a muscle injury, which he suffered in the final round of the Russian Premier League.

— While the control games are going on, I still want to give all the goalkeepers the opportunity to play, - continued Vitaly Kafanov. — Matvey was planned to be in the main squad with Nigeria, but in any case, we make all decisions only after we see the goalkeepers in the training process.

As for Krasnodar, Alexander Chernikov and Nikita Krivtsov were also on the expanded list.

— Chernikov has an injury, he will need a small operation, so there was no point in calling him, — Karpin noted. — Nikita was not included in the final squad, as other players were called up to his position in the center of the field.

In addition, Karpin congratulated the Bulls on their long-awaited title.

— This is a great achievement for the club and Sergey Nikolaevich Galitsky. I'm especially happy for the guys I've worked with in the national team. I hope Krasnodar will continue to successfully train players for the national team," the specialist added.

Combat verification

It should be noted that for the first time this year, the Russian national team will have serious rivals, although the main stars of the African team, Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lukman, did not enter the Nigerian team for the game in Moscow. However, there are such masters in the application as Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen), Samuel Chukwuese (Milan), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester) and Kelechi Iheanacho (Middlesbrough).

—Nigeria is one of the strongest rivals in recent times," Vladimir Granat, former defender of the Russian national team and Dynamo, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — I'm waiting for a good match from our guys. It's a pity that top players like Osimhen won't be coming, but in any case, the African national team has a fighting squad. It is possible that the winning streak will be interrupted, but I count on the success of Karpin's team.

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Recall that in the last eight games, Russia has never conceded or conceded a single goal. The overall score is 44:0.

"I'm looking forward to this game with great interest," said Valery Nepomnyashchy, former coach of the Cameroon national team. — It seems to me that the Nigerian national team, in any condition and in any composition, is a difficult opponent for us. The game against Nigeria, as well as against Cameroon, is very interesting in order to check our guys and their condition for today. I know that some of the leaders of the African national team will not come. But they have someone to replace them with. This is a serious national team.

The match against Nigeria will be held at the Luzhniki Stadium on June 6, the meeting starts at 20.00.