The head coach of the Russian national team, Guus Hiddink, drew a line under the long wait for the list of players who received a call for a friendly match against the Latvian national team. The Dutch specialist did not bring big surprises to the public, betting on young and successful players at the moment, diluting them with proven fighters. CSKA football players have the largest representation in the national team - five people, four people each were assigned to the camp of the Zenit and Lokomotiv national teams.
The goalkeeper line has undergone perhaps the most significant changes since the last game of the team against the national team of Spain. In the light of the disqualification of Sergei Ovchinnikov, Samara Alexander Makarov and Torpedo Dmitry Borodin, who had gained a good shape, got a chance. Despite some oversights in recent matches, the army player Igor Akinfeev was called, who seems to play the role of “first number” in the team.
In defensive orders, the scarcity of choice of domestic defenders left Hiddink virtually no room for maneuver. The army trio Ignashevich - the Bereutsky brothers were diluted by Zenit player Alexander Anyukov and Denis Kolodin, steadily leaving in the starting lineups of their teams.
After a long break, St. Petersburg's Vladislav Radimov returned to the national team, pleasantly surprising by the level of dedication under the leadership of the new coach of blue-white-blue Dick Advocaat. Dynamo Igor Semshov will try on the team’s t-shirt again, whose appearance in the national team is probably related to the injury of Spartak captain Yegor Titov. In addition to him, the army team Aldonin and three railway workers also received a call - defining the game of Muscovites Loskov and Bilyaletdinov, as well as Marat Izmailov, who recently recovered from another injury. The captain of the national team Alexei Smertin, who last Friday received a ridiculous injury during a training session, remained behind the list.
The forward list has gained one new face compared to the match against the Spanish national team. The first match for the national team can be played by Tom forward, Pavel Pogrebnyak, who regularly upsets goalkeepers from the top half of the table. In addition to the grenadier from Tomsk, the Zenitists Kerzhakov and Arshavin, the Spartak player Pavlyuchenko and the railwayman Sychev received the expected invitations to the national team.
The list of players called up for the match against the national team of Latvia:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA), Alexander Makarov (“Wings of the Soviets”), Dmitry Borodin (“Torpedo”);
Defenders: Alexander Anyukov (Zenit), Alexei Berezutsky, Vasily Berezutsky, Sergey Ignashevich (all - CSKA), Denis Kolodin (Dynamo);
Midfielders: Evgeni Aldonin (CSKA), Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Marat Izmailov, Dmitry Loskov (all - “Lokomotiv”), Vladislav Radimov (“Zenith”), Igor Semshov (“Dynamo”);
Forwards: Andrei Arshavin, Alexander Kerzhakov (both Zenit), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Tom), Dmitry Sychev (Lokomotiv).