Balakhnin sees no reason why Golovin and Miranchuk refuse to be called up to the Russian national team

Former coach of the Russian national team Sergei Balakhnin admitted to Sport Day after Day that he sees no reason for midfielders Alexander Golovin (Monaco) and Alexei Miranchuk (Atalanta) to refuse to be called up to the national team for the March training camp.

– Will you understand Golovin or Miranchuk if one of them refuses to come to the national team?

I don’t think they will refuse. No one has turned down the team yet. There is an official window in which everyone is released. I see no reason for them to refuse.

Does the challenge of Golovin and Miranchuk mean that the match with Iran is taken much more seriously?

– I think that every game is taken seriously – both to this one and to those. It’s just that they haven’t been called for a long time, a year. Their call is logical. The guys need to be called, as they are members of the national team. It is necessary that they stay in this environment, feel it, communicate with other players. This is fine.

— Dziuba is not in the extended line-up. What does he have to do to get into the final squad?

– It’s too early to say, since only one round of the RPL has passed. Although I’m not sure that he will be called up to the national team at all, given the personal relationship. However, little time has passed to talk about its readiness. This should be seen by the coaching staff.

The training camp of the Russian national team will be held from 19 to 28 March in Novogorsk. Earlier, the communications service of the RFU told Match TV that the RFU and the Iranian Football Federation agreed on the date of the friendly match of national teams on March 23 in Tehran.

Watch live broadcasts of matches of the Russian national football team on the Match TV federal channel and the thematic channels of the holding, as well as on matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites.