Lineup full of UEFA Cup winners

May 10th, 2008 | By: ivan | 6 Comments »

If Zenit Saint Petersburg will win UEFA Cup on 14th May it would be great opportunity – and temptation – for Guus Hiddink to fill Russian squad with Cup winners only.

CSKA Moscow did it in 2005 and five players immediately jumped into national team lineup. Igor Akinfeev, goalkeeper; Sergei Ignashevich and Berezutskiy brothers, defenders; Yuri Zhirkov, left winger.

Now Zenit can delegate 6 out of 11. Alexander Anyukov, rightback/winger; Roman Shirokov, defensive midfielder; Konstantin Zyryanov and Igor Denisov, central midfielders; Pavel Pogrebnyak and Andrei Arshavin, forwards.

Sure that combination looks like football manager game but that’s exactly what Guus Hiddink did – gathered the team of not-well-known footballers in short time. Maybe their titles would make a chance to win another title – at Euro 2008.

Tags: CSKA Moscow, Euro 2008 News, Russia, Team News, UEFA Cup, Zenit Saint Petersburg

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Comments

By Denis Borodin | May 10th, 2008 at 11:18 pm

I dont think thats the case because theres plenty of players from other clubs that Hiddink likes. Examples are Aleksandr Kerzhakov, Denis Kolodin, Vladimir Gaboulov, Marat Izmailov, Igor Semshov, and Dinyar Bilyaledtinov. All of whom are regulars in the starting line up.

I also doubt Akinfeev is No 1 any more. He didnt look fit during the match against Romania. I think Hiddink is going with Viacheslav Malafeev and No 1 with Vladimir Gaboulov and Dmitri Borodin as backups. Although Borodin is playing at Sibir Novo Sibirisk in the first division I think he is worth being in the national team.

I agree with your defense line up except I would insert Denis Kolodin and somewhere in there.

I think your midfield is pretty weak especially on the right side. I would put in Vladimir Bystrov and Igor Semshov on the right. Shirokov can be replaced with Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

Lastly, I like your strikers. I think that Pavel Pogrebnyak has been shunned by Hiddink and isnt giving him enough playing time. But I also think that Kerzhakov, Palvychenko, and Bulykin are also valuable choices up front.

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By ivan | May 11th, 2008 at 8:09 am

Denis, it’s just a fantasy post. It’s all up to Hiddink but I’ve tried to imagine how two Russian teams can complete a national squad.

Anyway all your thoughts are reasonable. But believe me, Pogrebnyak is not that ignored one. Hiddink was the man who put Pavel into national team and I’m sure Guus will try Pogrebnyak in next game with Kazakhstan.

By Ian | May 11th, 2008 at 9:09 am

After seeing his heroics in Munich, it definitely seems like Malafeev is the best choice for Russia’s #1 right now, but we’ll see. It will be interesting to see if Hiddink is influenced by Zenit’s UEFA Cup run.

By Denis Borodin | May 11th, 2008 at 10:51 am

Your right about Pogrebnyak being brought in by Guus Hiddink. But since then he has been used behind Arshavin, Kerzhakov, and Sychev, and Pavlyuchenko.

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By ivan | May 11th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Denis, Hiddink did it because of their better form. In recent friendly he choose Roman Adamov just to give him a chance. But now Pogrebnyak is on top form. Sure he will be first choice in attack.

By Denis Borodin | May 11th, 2008 at 3:33 pm

I agree with you to some degree, but there Adamov was chosen becasue Hiddink needs to find alternatives to Arshavin’s absence in the first two games.

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