Russia coach Dick Advocaat has named a 21-man squad for the team’s first two European Championship qualifiers - his first competitive games since joining in July.
Russia will travel to Andorra for its Group B opener on September 3, and then hosts Slovakia in Moscow four days later.
Advocaat made two changes to the squad that beat Bulgaria 1-0 in a warm-up match earlier this month. Rubin Kazan striker Alan Kasayev replaces injured Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Igor Denisov, while Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev was added as a third ‘keeper.
Advocaat replaced Guus Hiddink, whose team failed to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa after losing to Slovenia in a playoff.
