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Who's who in Russia's likely lineup
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Guus Hiddink
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Vyacheslav Malafeev (goalkeeper, Zenit St Petersburg)
Age 28 Caps 13
Strictly speaking, he is only second choice for the Russian team, although
the long-term injury to Igor Akinfeev means he is the incumbent at least
until the new year
Yury Zhirkov (left wing-back, CSKA Moscow)
Age 24 Caps 13
Principally a winger, but has been asked by Guus Hiddink to operate as
a wing-back, with success. Likes the ball at his feet and the closest
thing Russia has to a Ronaldinho
Sergei Ignashevich (centre-back, CSKA Moscow)
Age 28 Caps 31
Recalled to the squad after being dropped for poor time-keeping, Ignashevich
is, says coach Hiddink, an 'important player for us, like John Terry is
for England, the backbone of our defence'
Vasily Berezutsky (centre-back, CSKA Moscow)
Age 25 Caps 19
The other twin in Russia's back line and the third defender from CSKA,
where he has won two Russian championships, a domestic cup and an historic
Uefa Cup winner's medal in 2005
Alexei Berezutsky (centre-back, CSKA Moscow)
Age 25 Caps 21
One half of Russia's answer to the Nevilles, although the Berezutskys
are twins. Alexei is more the Gary of the pair, playing on the right of
the defence, and with a few more caps to his name than his sibling
Vladimir Bystrov (right wing-back, Spartak Moscow)
Age 23 Caps 15
Speedy, skilful footballer who was something of a prodigy when he made
his rst start for Zenit St Petersburg in a Russian Cup final at 18. At
20 he was called into the Russia squad for Euro 2004 and has recovered
well from an injury-hit 2006
Ivan Saenko (midfield, Nuremburg, Germany)
Age 23 Caps 3
An expatriate for most of his professional career, having joined Karlsruhe
in Germany as a teenager. Since moving to Nuremburg has collected a German
Cup medal
Konstantin Zyryanov (midfield, Zenit St Petersburg)
Age 29 Caps 4
A relative veteran in a generally young side and a man whose mid20s were
blighted by personal tragedy, the death, in a suspected suicide, of his
wife. In good form for title contenders Zenit
Andrei Arshavin (midfield, Zenit St Petersburg)
Age 26 Caps 27
Russian Footballer of the Year in 2006 and captain of the national XI.
The creative hub of his club team and the Russian team, with a good range
of passing and an eye for goal
Roman Pavlyuchenko (striker, Spartak Moscow)
Age 25 Caps 10
Has suffered somewhat from a bad-boy reputation, deemed a hot-head for
various incidents, but has come back strong from recent injury lay-offs.
Scored against Celtic in the Champions League last month
Dmitry Sychev (striker, Lokomotiv Moscow)
Age 23 Caps 33
An ex-prodigy, his reputation restored as one of the most potent attacking
players of his generation. Broke Russian records to make a World Cup debut
at 18, broke transfer rules to earn a four-month ban the same year and
struggled during his time with Marseille in France
Inside track Overall: England v Russia/USSR
Played 11 England 5 Russia 3 Drawn 3 Last match England 3 USSR 1 (Wembley,
1991)
- England and Russia have met 11 times since their first meeting in 1958
- a friendly in Moscow which ended 1-1. The biggest win in the series
was at Wembley, also in 1958, when England won a friendly 5-0, with Johnny
Haynes scoring a hat-trick. The nations have met four times in competitive
matches, including twice in the 1958 World Cup finals when they drew 2-2
in the group stages and USSR won 1-0 in the knockout stages
- England won when the sides met in the 1968 European Championship fi
nals but lost 3-1 when they clashed in 1988 in Frankfurt n USSR were the
first winners of the European Championship in 1960 and were runners-up
to Spain in 1964. They reached the semifinal in 1968, losing to Italy
on the toss of a coin. They were also runners-up in 1972 (to Germany)
and 1988 (to Holland)
- The Russians have yet to concede an away goal in Euro 2008 qualifying,
with two wins and a draw so far (drew 0-0 in Croatia, won 2-0 in Estonia,
won 2-0 in Macedonia)
Times
Online, September 9, 2007
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