Next week the gathering of the national team will begin in Novogorsk, which will last from 4 to 12 September. Before that, the national team met only once this year for the sake of two friendly matches: in Tehran, Karpin’s team played with Iran in a draw (1:1), and in St. Petersburg they beat Iraq (2:0).

In September, three games are scheduled at once, but their team will play in different compositions. The strongest players will go to the game in Qatar, which will be held on September 12, and the youth team will play two guest games with the Egyptian Olympic team (September 7 and 11).

From Golovin to Vakhania

The RFU on Wednesday night rolled out a list of 49 players without any explanation. Even the names of opponents in the September matches were not in this news. Usually, the announcement of the final squad for the training camp is accompanied by a press conference by the head coach, but this time it was impossible to do this for objective reasons: Karpin’s Rostov played a cup game against Lokomotiv.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Alexey Filippov

The confusion generated the expected reaction from the fans, who were surprised by the number of players called up. Only the next day Karpin explained everything in an interview with Match TV:

– Obviously, the Russian national team, made up of players born in 2001 and younger, will play with the Egyptian Olympic team. And the team will play with the Qatar national team without age restrictions. Accordingly, the coaching staff of the national team called two teams for these three games. Even if you look at the number of players – 49 – and subtract 5 goalkeepers from this, you get 44 outfield players, that is, 22 for each team. On September 7, I will lead the team, and on September 11, Viktor Onopko and Yuri Nikiforov will lead it,” said Karpin.

In the news on the official website of the RFU, the list was posted without a breakdown, which Karpin speaks of. Therefore, the perception of the shocked public was appropriate. Indeed, this is confusing when Georgy Jikia is next to the still little-known Ilya Vakhania in the same squad, and CSKA reservist Nikita Ermakov is next to Alexander Golovin.

Photo: © Dmitry Chelyapin / Match TV

Several players fit into both squads at once: some young players born in 2001 or younger already play important roles in their clubs. Therefore, the same Litvinov or Volkov, suitable in age for the youth team, will most likely be involved in the main team.

Perhaps a little later on the official resources of the national team will publish two options for the composition: the main and youth. For now, we can only guess how Karpin will form two teams, based on his own explanations.

The main composition of the Russian national team for the September training camp (for the match with Qatar)

Goalkeepers: Matvey Safonov (Krasnodar), Ilya Lantratov (Lokomotiv), Ilya Pomazun (Ural);

Defenders: Vyacheslav Karavaev (Zenith), Daniil Khlusevich, Georgy Jikia, Ruslan Litvinov (all – Spartak), Sergey Volkov (Krasnodar), Alexander Soldatenkov (Wings of the Soviets), Dmitry Skopintsev (Dynamo) ;

Midfielders: Dmitry Barinov, Anton Miranchuk, Maxim Glushenkov (all – Lokomotiv), Danil Glebov (Rostov), ​​Alexander Chernikov (Krasnodar), Daniil Fomin (Dynamo), Anton Zinkovsky (Spartak), Maxim Mukhin, Ivan Oblyakov (both – CSKA), Alexander Yushin (Ural), Alexander Golovin (Monaco);

forwards: Nikolay Komlichenko (Rostov), ​​Alexander Sobolev (Spartak), Fedor Chalov (CSKA).

Youth squad (for matches with the Egyptian Olympic team)

Goalkeepers: Stanislav Agkatsev (Krasnodar), Vladislav Torop (CSKA);

Defenders: Daniil Denisov (Spartak), Viktor Alexandrov (PARI NN), Vyacheslav Litvinov (Sochi), Andrey Langovich, Viktor Melekhin, Ilya Vakhania (all – Rostov), ​​Egor Pogostnov, Evgeny Morozov (both – “Locomotive”);

MidfieldersNikita Krivtsov (Krasnodar), Yaroslav Gladyshev (Dynamo), Nikita Ermakov (CSKA Moscow), Stepan Oganesyan (Orenburg), Vladimir Khubulov, Sergey Babkin (both Wings of the Soviets), Edgar Sevikyan, Yaroslav Mikhailov ( both – PARI NN), Dmitry Vasiliev (Zenit), Kirill Kravtsov (Sochi);

forwardsCast: Konstantin Tyukavin (Dynamo), Tamerlan Musaev (Baltika).

Gazzaev had an even longer list

There has already been an episode in the history of the Russian national team with an incredibly long list of players declared for the national team. In 2002, another Valery Georgievich announced 59 names at once! True, then Gazzaev did not call such a number of players to the collection.

Evgeny Giner, Valery Gazzaev and Jiri Yaroshik / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vladimir Fedorenko

Then the stars of those times were out of the list: Karpin, Onopko, Alenichev, Mostovoy. On the other hand, the head coach included almost all CSKA players (15), including Triputen and Piyuk, who hardly played at all. Gazzaev’s logic was simple: “Guys, we are watching you closely and we can call if you prove yourself.” As a result, many of that list never made it to the national team.

– I wanted to check the players who played in Russia and showed a desire to play in the national team. Therefore, by the way, an expanded list of candidates of 59 people, which caused a lot of talk, was published. As an advance – so that young people see the future. And the capabilities of veterans are well known, ”Gazzaev explained.

Karpin, since his appointment two years ago, has introduced the practice of giant extended squads for 40+ people. At first, the coach announced it, and a week later he cut it to acceptable values. The meaning was the same as that of Gazzaev: to give motivation to players who, in terms of their qualities, do not yet reach the national team, but could potentially be in it after some time.

Why does the national team need friendly matches?

After the suspension from international tournaments, interest in the Russian team predictably faded. A year ago, friendly matches with Kyrgyzstan (2:1), Tajikistan (0:0) and Uzbekistan (0:0) did not cause much excitement among the fans. It seemed that the players who took the field, these matches are not very interesting.

The March meetings with Iran and Iraq turned out to be a little more cheerful. The upcoming match with Qatar is a good opportunity to test your strength against the background of the 2022 World Cup participant. The entourage should also add public attention to the game, which will take place in one of the stadiums of last year’s World Cup.

Photo: Qatar vs Russia match (2016)

In the history of the Russian national team, this will be the fourth friendly game with Qatar. All previous meetings took place in Doha, and only the first of them (5:2) was won, when Karpin was still a player. In 2011, the team led by Dick Advocaat tied (1:1), and five years later, under Stanislav Cherchesov, the Russians completely lost (1:2).

A year ago, our team was first suspended from the matches for the World Cup, and then they were not allowed to qualify for Euro 2024. The next qualification for the World Cup will start in the spring of 2025, and so far the participation of the Russian team in it is a big question. In such a situation, it is easy to give up, but the RFU has a different approach.

The sad reality does not mean that the Russian team should cease to exist during the suspension. When / if all restrictions are lifted, Karpin or any other coach should have a ready-made team at hand.