Photo: © Andrey Anosov / Match TV
Valery Karpin, head coach of the Russian national football team, believes that under the current conditions it makes no sense to call experienced players to the national team, for example, Dynamo Moscow forward Fedor Smolov.
— Last year we saw a lot of players who made their debut in the national team. Will you call all the strongest for the next matches? Or will you try new combinations again, new guys?
– If everything remains as it is, and I suspect that everything will remain so at least until March, then we will continue the same line, that is, prepare with an eye to the future. Well, what’s the point? Let’s imagine that, for example, at that time Fedor Smolov will be our best striker. Why should I call him? Meet? Or so that he scores two goals against Uzbekistan or Tajikistan, and everyone applauds Feda? What’s next from this?
Therefore, if nothing changes, I think we should look, bet on those guys who will be able to help the national team in the near future, ”Match TV quotes Karpin.
Russian clubs and teams have been suspended from participation in international tournaments since March last year due to the situation in Ukraine. The Russian national team has since played three friendly matches against the teams of Kyrgyzstan (2:1), Tajikistan (0:0) and Uzbekistan (0:0).
The Executive Committee of the Russian Football Union (RFU) at the end of December postponed the decision on a possible transition to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
Watch the full interview of Valery Karpin on the air of the program “All for the Match!” on the Match TV channel on Monday at 21:30.
Source: Sportbox
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