| Russia soccer team coach Guus Hiddink named Monday his 19-man squad for the first Euro-2008 qualifier against Croatia on September 6 in Moscow. Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeyev (CSKA Moscow), Dmitry Borodin (Torpedo Moscow), and Alexander Makarov (Krylya Sovietov Samara). Defenders: Alexei Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich (both CSKA Moscow), Denis Kolodin (Dinamo Moscow), and Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St. Petersburg). Midfielders: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Marat Izmaylov (both Lokomotiv Moscow), Yevgeny Aldonin (CSKA Moscow), Vladislav Radimov (Zenit St Petersburg), Alexei Smertin and Igor Semshov (both Dinamo Moscow). Forwards: Andrei Arshavin, Alexander Kerzhakov (both Zenit St Petersburg), Dmitry Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Tom Tomsk), and Ivan Sayenko (Nuremberg). Hiddink said CSKA Moscow center back Vassily Berezutsky was still recovering from a knock picked up in early August and that he was in contact with Berezutsky's club doctors to establish whether he could take the field. Russia's national team failed to qualify for this year's World Cup in Germany, but Russian fans expect Hiddink to work miracles guiding it to the Euro-2008 finals in Austria and Switzerland. Russia will face England, Andorra, Estonia, Macedonia, Israel and Croatia in qualifying Group E. Macedonia leads the group after a 1:0 away win over Estonia on August 16. England, Andorra, and Israel will play their first qualifiers September 2. |
