National coach Stanislav Cherchesov has announced the final European Championship selection of Russia. The Russians are on the eve of the sixth European Championship in history. At the 2016 edition, the group stage was the final destination. At the 2018 World Cup in their own country, they reached the quarterfinals, after eliminating Spain in the eighth final. Russia plays two matches in the group stage on home soil.
One of the most notable names on the list is Artem Dzyuba. The tall striker was removed from the selection by Cherchesov in November last year after a sex video was leaked. A video appeared of the Zenit Saint Petersburg attacker masturbating, although that has never been officially confirmed. Dzyuba also returned to the Russians during the international match in March.
Other well-known names in the selection are Aleksandr Golovin, Mário Fernandes and Aleksei Miranchuk and Yuri Zhirkov. The latter has a record up for grabs. The 37-year-old left-back could become the oldest Russian player ever at a European Championship. That record is still held by Sergei Ignashevich, who was 36 years and 342 days old at the 2016 European Championship. The European Championship adventure for the selection of Cherchesov starts on June 12 against Belgium in Saint Petersburg. The other group matches are against Finland (June 16 in Saint-Peterburg) and Denmark (June 21 in Copenhagen).
The full roster of Russia:
Target: Yuri Dyupin (Rubin Kazan), Matvei Safonov (RK Krasnodar), Anton Shunin (Dynamo Moscow)
Defense: Georgi Dzhikiya (Spartak Moscow), Igor Diveev (CSKA Moscow), Yuri Zhirkov (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Vyacheslav Karavaev (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Fedor Kudryashov (Antalyaspor), Andrei Semenov (Akhmat Grozny), Mario Fernandes (CSKA Moscow )
Midfield: Dmitri Barinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Rifat Zhemaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Maksim Mukhin (CSKA Moscow), Aleksandr Golovin (AS Monaco), Daniil Fomin (Dinamo Moscow), Roman Zobnin (Spartak Moscow), Alexei Ionov (FK Krasnodar), Daler Kuzyayev (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Andrei Mostovoy (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Magomed Ozdoev (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Denis Makarov (Rubin Kazan), Aleksei Miranchuk (Atalanta), Denis Cheryshev (Valencia)
Attack: Artem Dzyuba (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Anton Zabolotny (CSKA Moscow), Aleksandr Sobolev (Spartak Moscow)
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