Former Spartak coach Valery Gladilin answered the question of who he considers to be the main forward of the Russian national team at the moment.

On Tuesday, November 7, the expanded composition of the national team was published, which included 29 players. The list includes three forwards – Alexander Sobolev (Spartak), Ivan Sergeev (Zenit) and Fedor Chalov (CSKA). The training camp will begin in Novogorsk on November 13.

— Valery Karpin announced the expanded list of the Russian national team for the friendly match with Cuba. There are five players from Spartak: Sobolev, Khlusevich, Litvinov, Prutsev and Zinkovsky. Do they really look bright now?

— Sobolev hasn’t shown himself so well in recent matches, but Karpin knows him very well. Plus there is a shortage of center forwards. And other Spartak guys have sufficient experience and prove themselves. But this national team match is not key, so the coach called the players to talk more and watch them.

— Karpin did not invite Zakharyan and Alexey Miranchuk to the training camp and explained this by the lack of playing practice. But this did not apply to Sobolev due to the lack of attackers, in your opinion?

– Yes Yes. After all, Sasha was always in the Spartak team, in the training process, and he was also present in the application for the game with Lokomotiv. Although he never entered the field. Karpin knows its capabilities and how to use it. This does not mean that Sasha will be in the starting lineup of the Russian national team. We don’t have obvious football players who would show themselves great like Golovin. He’s doing great in Europe now. And so Karpin invites those who get into the squad and somehow prove themselves. The coach has forty such people on his list. The extended list is currently being viewed.

— You spoke about the lack of forwards, but Valery Georgievich did not call up either Smolov or Tyukavin. And in general, no one from Dynamo was included in the extended list of the national team. Is this surprising?

– Karpin knows the capabilities of both Fedya and Kostya. There is enough information on them. This means that at the moment it is more important for the coach to communicate with Sobolev, because there is nothing special to teach such guys. You just need to explain what they want from him.

— Among the forwards there are also Ivan Sergeev from Zenit and Fedor Chalov from CSKA. Who do you see as the main forward now?

– Chalov. Then Sergeev. They have proven themselves and start their teams all the time. They have a better chance of going against Cuba than Sobolev.

— PARIS NN goalkeeper Nigmatullin joined the national team for the first time. Did he really play so well that he attracted the attention of the coaching staff?

— This is an experienced goalkeeper who has been playing for a long time. He sometimes wears the captain’s armband, meaning he is a leader on the field. The goalkeeper coach tells Karpin who to invite. Extra competition won’t hurt.

— What do you think about our opponent, the Cuban team?

“I’ve never seen it, but I know that this team is closer to South African football.

— Cuba is in 169th place in the FIFA rankings. What can this game give us?

“Whoever we agreed with is the one we’ll play with.” This is an opportunity for the guys in the national team to get together again and communicate, which will be useful in any case. In addition, with such an opponent you can try different variations of the game and combinations of players.

— Will the result of the match matter to you?

– No. Our guys are playing and watching. Creating a team so that there are like-minded people who will be able to achieve results in the future,” Euro-Futbol.Ru quotes Gladilin as saying.

The Russian national team will play a friendly match with the Cuban team on November 20 in Volgograd, the game will start at 19:30 (Moscow time).