Dick Advocaat has resisted calls for more youth in the Russian squad for next month’s European qualifiers. The national team manager named an experienced 20-man squad for clashes against Macedonia and the Republic of Ireland.
Russia will play both games at home, on September 2 and 6.
No changes have been made to the squad that beat Serbia 1-0 in a friendly last week, which was only the team’s second win since October last year.
Sergey Ignasheich is, however, suspended, meaning his CSKA Moscow team-mates, the Berezutsky brothers, are likely to partner one another in the center of defense.
Meanwhile, Aleksandr Kerzhakov has recovered from a knock picked up against the Serbs and will be vying with Roman Pavlyuchenko, Pavel Pogrebnyak and Captain Andrey Arshavin for a place up front.
Former Chelsea winger, Yury Zhirkov, also became the first ever Anzhi player to appear in the national team.
The Russians currently share the top spot with Slovakia and Ireland in Group B, with all three teams having 13 points after six games in the Euro 2012 qualifying rounds.
Advocaat’s choice:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Vyacheslav Malafeev (Zenit);
Defenders: Alexander Anyukov (Zenit), Alexey Berezutsky, Vasily Berezutsky, Sergey Ignashevich (all – CSKA Moscow), Roman Shishkin (Lokomotiv), Yury Zhirkov (Anzhi);
Midfielders: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Everton, England), Igor Denisov, Konstantin Zyrianov, Roman Shirokov (all – Zenit), Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow), Igor Semshov (Dynamo Moscow), Dmitry Torbinsky, Denis Glushakov (both – Lokomotiv);
Forwards: Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal, England), Aleksander Kerzhakov (Zenith), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Tottenham, England), Pavel Pogrebnyak (“Stuttgart”, Germany).