Russia national team coach Dick Advocaat announced a squad of 21 players for the upcoming qualifying games against Ireland and Macedonia.
With the majority of the players based in the domestic league, especialy in the clubs Zenit and CSKA Moskva, the Russian team looks strong but not unbeatable.
Goalkeepers:
Igor Akinfeev – CSKA Moskva
Vladimir Gabulov – Dinamo Moskva
Vyacheslav Malafeev – Zenit
Defenders:
Aleksandr Anyukov – Zenit
Vasili Berezutski – CSKA Moskva
Aleksei Berezutski – CSKA Moskva
Sergei Ignashevich – CSKA Moskva
Yuri Zhirkov – Chelsea, England
Sergei Parshivlyuk – Spartak Moskva
Midfielders:
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov – Everton, England
Igor Denisov – Zenit
Konstantin Zyryanov – Zenit
Roman Shirokov – Zenit
Vladimir Bystrov – Zenit
Alan Dzagoev – CSKA Moskva
Pavel Mamaev – CSKA Moskva
Igor Semshov – Dinamo Moskva
Strikers:
Andrey Arshavin – Arsenal, England
Aleksandr Kerzhakov – Zenit
Roman Pavlyuchenko – Tottenham Hotspur, England
Pavel Pogrebnyak – Stuttgart, Germany
Russia will face Macedonia on 12th of October at the National Arena Philip II of Macedon in Skopje, but four days earlier will have another hard away game as the play Ireland in Dublin.