"They work and play at a different level": Cherchesov on the challenge of Dupin and Samoshnikov, the motivation of Miranchuk and the return of Golovin

The composition of the Russian national football team for the first matches of the qualifying stage of the 2022 World Cup with Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia appeared on the official website of the RFU on Monday morning and brought many surprises to the fans.

In particular, the list of 27 people included two debutants at once.

We are talking about Yuri Dupin and Ilya Samoshnikov, who won three victories in a row with Rubin after the resumption of the season in the RPL.

The head coach of the national team Stanislav Cherchesov, speaking with journalists, stressed that he had been following them for a long time.

“That year, too, we looked after those who show themselves and have a certain potential.

We notice players not only when they directly start playing at a high level.

Dupin, for example, played for Anji, and Samoshnikov - for Torpedo.

In winter, the clubs held training camps in Turkey, and we watched almost all control matches of Dynamo, Rubin, Sochi.

They showed themselves.

Moreover, these clubs fought for other places last season, and now - for the European Cup zone.

The bar has gone up.

They work and play on a different level.

We decided to call them.

Samoshnikov, after learning that he would be invited to the national team, scored.

It’s already good, ”the specialist noted.

At the same time, Dupin in the goalkeeper line took the place of Marinato Guilherme, who for a long time was the main goalkeeper of the national team.

The coach stressed that the reason for not calling the naturalized Brazilian was not at all the unsuccessful match with Serbia in the League of Nations, in which the Lokomotiv gate guard was replaced during the break.

“For one reason or another, Marinato could not fully prove himself.

We never make sudden movements.

Today you can be in one state, and tomorrow in another.

Lokomotiv will live with us in the same hotel, so there will be an opportunity to talk with Guilherme, ”Cherchesov explained.

The list of defenders also raised a lot of questions.

So, in it again there was a place for the footballer of Sandhausen Alexander Zhirov, who together with his team is fighting for survival in the second Bundesliga, and Roman Neustädter from Dynamo.

At the same time, the specialist explained the absence of Maxim Osipenko by the early departure of “Rostov” from the European cups.

At the same time, Cherchesov stressed that in the center of defense he would continue to rely on Georgy Dzhikia and Andrei Semyonov.

“We count on Fedor Kudryashov as a left-back.

But he also played the central one.

Semyonov was the basis of the entire qualifying cycle for Euro, acted reliably and confidently.

He was not in Serbia, and Jikia alone was not an assistant.

They complement each other, ”explained the coach.

The 37-year-old Yuri Zhirkov also retained his place in the national team's roster, who at the beginning of the year does not receive any practice in Zenit, and last appeared on the field on February 20 in the 1/8 finals of the Russian Cup with Arsenal.

“He had a good training camp in Dubai.

For one reason or another, he is not playing now.

We are in touch with him.

There is an MRI, which showed that there is nothing serious.

Zhirkov will come to the training camp, and we will make a decision on a case-by-case basis.

There are three matches, and a footballer of this level can help us in one of them.

Someone has enough after an injury and a week to get in shape, but someone needs a month, "- said Cherchesov.

According to the specialist, Mario Fernandez should also help the national team, having earned a bruise and a head cut, and also left the field ahead of schedule in the 22nd round match with Arsenal.

The line-up of the midfielders turned out to be quite curious.

For example, CSKA footballer Ilzat Akhmetov returned to the national team.

The coach of the national team was glad that the young performer, having recovered from a collarbone injury, is finally returning to its previous level.

Alexander Golovin also received a long-awaited challenge, who missed almost six months due to injury.

The specialist stressed that he is not worried by the fact that the Russian, after returning to service, does not always get into the starting lineup of Monaco.

“We are glad that Alexander is pulling out his minutes.

This is a big plus.

Sasha is a guy with character and will not give anything to anyone.

I know Niko Kovacs firsthand.

If Golovin plays a little, this does not mean that he is bad, there are simply other players who deserve to enter the field, "explained Cherchesov.

The coach also spoke about the situation with Alexey Miranchuk, who gets very little playing time at Atalanta.

According to him, the midfielder, even appearing on the field during matches, demonstrates progress.

He called on the ward to prove his worth in the national team.

“Even these minutes are enough to notice the transformation in his playing qualities.

It is difficult to understand this at a distance.

He will fly to the national team, we will talk to him again.

Did I solve the situation with the "gold asset" with him?

It is he who must play, score, give, show himself.

We give our promises, and now he is in the national team.

Come and prove your worth, as well as in the club, "- said the specialist.

As for the forwards, this time three one-sided forwards were called up to the national team: Artyom Dzyuba, Alexander Sobolev and Anton Zabolotny.

Moreover, it became known in advance about the summons of the Zenit player and the return of the captain's armband to him.

“I was asked - I answered.

He said that he would return and be the captain, and Dziuba immediately scored.

So everything is correct.

This is the case when there is no point in mumbling, ”the coach of the national team emphasized.

He also rejoiced at the progress of Sobolev, who scored three goals and gave an assist in the last two RPL matches.

In his opinion, the injury received in November in the location of the national team helped the Spartak player to some extent.

“Now Alexander is healthy and on fire.

Apparently, then the knee hindered him.

The call to the national team pushed for the operation.

The situation then surprised us, because everyone knew what was at stake.

We try not to harm anyone, ”the coach recalled.

Fyodor Smolov, who recovered from an injury, also showed high performance in the last two matches of the national championship.

The Lokomotiv striker came on as a substitute in the games against Arsenal and Sochi, and in both cases hit the other's goal.

However, he was not on the list of the national team.

Cherchesov explained this by the desire to give the player the opportunity to calmly get back in shape after injury.

“There are practically no special loads in the national team, mainly we are talking about recovery training, flights.

The training regime at Lokomotiv will help Smolov to get fit faster after an injury.

Now he will return to the starting lineup and provide us with food for thought, so that we pay attention to him.

The same applies to Dmitry Barinov, ”the coach emphasized.

We asked the mentor about the intersection of interests with the youth team, which at the end of March will take part in the final stage of the European Championship.

According to Cherchesov, there is no conflict, and he is constantly in touch with Mikhail Galaktionov.

“The question could have arisen about Matvey Safonov, but the situation was resolved by itself.

As for the rest, let's say there is a player "X" who is able to prove himself.

But it is almost impossible to do it from the sheet.

Then it makes sense to pull out the players who have a chance to play at the youth Euro?

If we had the confidence that someone could come and go at the base, they would have called.

There is a clip of players that we pay attention to and who, I am convinced, will have ways to play in the main team in the future.

Now they have Euro U21 ahead of them, ”said the coach.

Finally, Cherchesov spoke about his closest rivals.

The specialist called Malta "a trained and physically strong team that should be taken seriously."

And the level of Slovenia and Slovakia, according to the coach, speaks for itself.

At the same time, he lamented that the coronavirus pandemic could at any time make adjustments to the composition of any national team.

After that, Cherchesov was once again asked a question about vaccination, and he noted that, although he had gone through this procedure a long time ago, he could not force the players to do anything.

“I didn’t insist and I will not do it.

How can you force?

I made for myself.

It's calmer for me if a football player decides to do something, being confident in it.

The vaccine does provide you with some protection.

But if the players do something out of hand, it will not work as a plus, ”the expert summed up.