retired_puly1364

24th of January 2007

I had zero help in the staff department of Russia and I asked the Russian FA to get guys from CSKA to join the team-staff. Most of the coaches joined us so I could only concentrate on manageing the senior squad, leaving other guys the youngsters and helping me! Here is the new staff:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Job | Name | Team | Nat | Reputation | Cnt | Monthly wage | Expires | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Manager | Tanel Tursk | Senior Squad | EST | Local | F/T | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Manager | Omari Tetradze | U19 Squad | RUS | Local | F/T | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Coach | Vyacheslav Tchanov | Senior Squad | RUS | Continental | F/T | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Coach | Oleg Malyukov | Senior Squad | RUS | Continental | F/T | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Coach | Nikolay Latysh | Senior Squad | RUS | National | F/T | - | - | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

31st of January 2007

I asked NFA board a 2 weeks off rest because of Russia and I travelled to Manchester to see our big star Alexei Smertin play. After watching him play againist Tottenham, I had organized an meeting with him.

I managed to get myself an VIP-ticket in Old Trafford, where I chatted with some high profile names too. (Bobby Charlton and so on) That certainly rised my reputation a bit.

But Smertin was very good. He was the best player in midfield of Manchester United, he played a bit more free role that I want him to play, but he still was more defensive than attacking. One thing that I noticed that sometimes, he did give some very wrong passes and missed with 1-2 tackles, but otherwise - he did very good interceptions and tackles. (ManU won 2:0, he had his foot in one of the goals)

So he knew that after he takes the shower in dressing - I was waiting for him in a cafe, 5 minutes walk away from Old Trafford. After having talking to my team captain - I immediatly rushed to a plane that was heading to Moscow. I talked with Smertin about his game and also about my Russian tactics and stuff. I want to play more attacking style, like it suceeded with Cork, and also about how the lines should work - so he could explain it better to the players. I'm playing with my preferred 4-5-1 tactic.

1st of February 2007

My first Russian squad was 26 player, as it was important me to get known of as much players as I can. Unluckily, just after announcing the squad, I got a phone-call that Alexey Berezutskiy got injuried, so I had to replace him with Vadim Yevseev. Otherwise - I had an full squad on my proposal and this squad is my first choice.

Team Squad:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Club | Height | Weight | Age | Value | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Igor Akinfeev | GK | CSKA Moscow | 185 cm | 81 kg | 20 | £3.8M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Vyacheslav Malafeev | GK | Zenith Peterburg | 185 cm | 83 kg | 27 | £1.7M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Sergey Ignashevich | SW, D RC | CSKA Moscow | 186 cm | 82 kg | 27 | £1.5M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Vasily Berezutskiy | D RC | CSKA Moscow | 189 cm | 83 kg | 24 | £1.7M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Alexey Berezutskiy | D LC | CSKA Moscow | 190 cm | 82 kg | 24 | £1.9M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Dmitry Sennikov | D LC | Lokomotiv Moscow | 183 cm | 76 kg | 30 | £875K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Igor Yanovskiy | D L, DM | Châteauroux | 187 cm | 83 kg | 32 | £150K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Gennady Nizhegorodov | D C | Terek | 181 cm | 77 kg | 29 | £400K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Eugeny Aldonin | DM | Brescia | 179 cm | 72 kg | 27 | £2.1M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Alexeï Smertin | DM | Man Utd | 174 cm | 70 kg | 31 | £3.2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Vladimir Bystrov | AM R | Spartak Moscow | 173 cm | 69 kg | 23 | £2.3M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Rolan Gusev | AM R | CSKA Moscow | 180 cm | 75 kg | 29 | £2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Sergey Semak | AM RLC | Paris | 178 cm | 73 kg | 30 | £375K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unf | Andrey Arshavin | AM RC, F C | Shakhtar | 172 cm | 68 kg | 25 | £4.4M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Anatoly Gerk | AM RC, F C | CSKA Moscow | 179 cm | 76 kg | 22 | £2.5M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Marat Izmailov | AM LC | Lokomotiv Moscow | 169 cm | 68 kg | 24 | £450K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Andrey Karyaka | AM LC | Benfica | 180 cm | 74 kg | 28 | £1.9M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Yury Zhirkov | AM L | CSKA Moscow | 178 cm | 72 kg | 23 | £3.8M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Dinijar Bilyaletdinov | AM C | Lokomotiv Moscow | 179 cm | 73 kg | 21 | £3.2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Unf | Dmitry Los'kov | AM C | Lokomotiv Moscow | 175 cm | 74 kg | 32 | £900K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Igor Semshov | AM C | Portsmouth | 170 cm | 67 kg | 28 | £2.2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Yegor Titov | AM C | Spartak Moscow | 186 cm | 84 kg | 30 | £2.4M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Alexandr Kerzhakov | ST | Shakhtar | 175 cm | 70 kg | 24 | £4.1M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Alexandr Panov | ST | Celtic | 166 cm | 65 kg | 31 | £180K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Sergey Pravosud | ST | CSKA Moscow | 185 cm | 82 kg | 20 | £275K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Dmitry Sychev | ST | Lokomotiv Moscow | 175 cm | 71 kg | 23 | £2.2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

6th of February 2007

A day before the match, things were looking good at the training ground. I also headed for the regular press conference before the match againist Switzerland.

What tactic you will try to convert to the Russian squad?

I'm trying my 4-5-1 tactic, which has worked well in the past for me. It has one top-striker, with two players playing just behind him. The only week spot is the gap which will be in between of the attacking players and deep midfielder, but I'm sure we can fill it.

How are things in the training ground?

They are awesome. Around 1000 fans came to watch the open training yesterday and they seemed to welcome me well. Also the players are very happy and I hope the attacking style of play starts brining results to Russia. This team has lot of potential.

Did you have a chance to met any of the players before the offical training started?

Yes, I met Alexei Smertin after the game againist Manchester and I also managed to meet with 20 of the players in Moscow who I follow at the moment.

Will you play with the best line-up in tomorrows friendly?

Yes, I will. I need to see the potential and I want every player to give 101% of them.

What do you know about the Switzerland team?

Honoustly, I haven't have a lot of time to study them since I met with the players. Though, they've got an very young squad with some nice players like Vonlanthen, Behrami, Senderos... They are at the same level with Russia I think.

7th of January 2007

So it was my debut on international scene. An packed up Lokomotiv's home stadium was very anxious, so was I. It was one of the biggest days of my career. I was in a hotel near to stadium and the FA's chariman, and he's wife came to pick me up at 10 AM, so I could have my last training before the match with the team. We practiced shooting and stuff in the stadium before letting the players eat a lunch and then join me at dressing-room's at 2 PM, hour before the match.

I had selected my team on yesterday and it looked like that:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Igor Akinfeev | GK | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | | Vasily Berezutskiy | D RC | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Dmitry Sennikov | D LC | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Sergey Ignashevich | SW, D RC | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Gennady Nizhegorodov | D C | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DMC | | Alexeï Smertin | DM | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Vladimir Bystrov | AM R | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | | Yury Zhirkov | AM L | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AMC | | Yegor Titov | AM C | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AMC | | Andrey Arshavin | AM RC, F C | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | 45 | Alexandr Kerzhakov | ST | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | | Anatoly Gerk | AM RC, F C | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | | Vyacheslav Malafeev | GK | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | | Vadim Yevseev | D RL | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | | Eugeny Aldonin | DM | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | | Dmitry Sychev | ST | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S6 | | Igor Semshov | AM C | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S7 | | Dinijar Bilyaletdinov | AM C | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S8 | Ret | Igor Yanovskiy | D L, DM | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S9 | | Andrey Karyaka | AM LC | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Rolan Gusev | AM R | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Sergey Semak | AM RLC | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Marat Izmailov | AM LC | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Dmitry Los'kov | AM C | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Alexandr Panov | ST | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Sergey Pravosud | ST | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

Friendly
Russia 0:1 Switzerland (30. Johan Vonlanthen)

An very good display for us, we were really unlucky to draw, as the first half was equal and we totally dominated the second. Strikers were having off-days. But few players really imperessed me. Especially Arshavin and Zhirkov. But I need to make a few adjustments in tactics, like moving the defence line deeper.

I will also plan to visit the European cup games off few Russian players soon. I will leave Moscow to Denmark on 9th.

retired_puly1364

"How is Cherbourg doing?" - I wondered. Logged onto my laptop and went to their homesite. I found out that they are still last with 15 points. In 8 games since I left - they have collected 2 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses.

6th of March 2007

After a long time with the team, I finally tested the team in a friendly match. We had an 2:2 draw with B 1909 away. Our goals we're scored by Soren Christensen and Martin Lohse.

11th of March 2007

My league debut with NFA was not easy task, but it was set to give me an overall look of the team weak places and strong places. It was againist 4th placed Viborg at home with only 1000 people on the stadium. I played with my old preferred 4-5-1 tactic with Martin B. Christensen upfront.

Danish Premier Division, Week 21
NFA 4:2 Viborg (42., 74. Martin B. Christensen, 52. Ronni Jonski, 77. Bartosz Zych)

I wasn't the only person ecstatic after the game. So were our few fans on the stadium. What a great way to start my NFA career. Awesome win. We gave Viborg a lot of unexcepted headache. This game was on the headlines of Danish soccersites. Even over big Brondby - Kobenhavn match. We finished great, every shot ended with goal. We came back from 1:0 down, then grabbed 2:1 lead, then lost it and within 4 minutes - it was 4:2. Only 1 point away from "shore of the dry land".

12th of March 2007

4 of our players were in team of the week and Ronni Jonski's goal was selected 3rd best goal of the week.

17th of March 2007

I selected Russia squad for match againist Luxembourg in EC qualifying game. I had few injuries giving me headache, but nothing heartbreaking.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Club | Height | Weight | Age | Value | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Igor Akinfeev | GK | CSKA Moscow | 185 cm | 81 kg | 20 | £4.6M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | Yel | Vyacheslav Malafeev | GK | Zenith Peterburg | 185 cm | 83 kg | 28 | £1.7M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Sergey Ignashevich | SW, D RC | CSKA Moscow | 186 cm | 82 kg | 27 | £1.5M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | | Vasily Berezutskiy | D RC | CSKA Moscow | 189 cm | 83 kg | 24 | £1.7M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | Yel | Vadim Yevseev | D RL | Lokomotiv Moscow | 180 cm | 80 kg | 31 | £1M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Dmitry Sennikov | D LC | Lokomotiv Moscow | 183 cm | 76 kg | 30 | £875K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S8 | Ret | Igor Yanovskiy | D L, DM | Châteauroux | 187 cm | 83 kg | 32 | £95K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Gennady Nizhegorodov | D C | Dinamo Moscow | 181 cm | 77 kg | 29 | £550K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | | Eugeny Aldonin | DM | Brescia | 179 cm | 72 kg | 27 | £2.1M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DMC | Yel | Alexeï Smertin | DM | Man Utd | 174 cm | 70 kg | 31 | £3.3M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Vladimir Bystrov | AM R | Spartak Moscow | 173 cm | 69 kg | 23 | £2.4M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Yel | Rolan Gusev | AM R | CSKA Moscow | 180 cm | 75 kg | 29 | £2M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Sergey Semak | AM RLC | Paris | 178 cm | 73 kg | 31 | £170K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Dmitry Shoukov | AM RL | Perugia | 181 cm | 79 kg | 31 | £100K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AMC | | Andrey Arshavin | AM RC, F C | Shakhtar | 172 cm | 68 kg | 25 | £4.4M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | | Anatoly Gerk | AM RC, F C | CSKA Moscow | 179 cm | 76 kg | 22 | £2.3M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Marat Izmailov | AM LC | Lokomotiv Moscow | 169 cm | 68 kg | 24 | £675K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S9 | | Andrey Karyaka | AM LC | Benfica | 180 cm | 74 kg | 28 | £1.9M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | Yel | Yury Zhirkov | AM L | CSKA Moscow | 178 cm | 72 kg | 23 | £3.8M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Yel | Dmitry Los'kov | AM C | Lokomotiv Moscow | 175 cm | 74 kg | 33 | £775K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Vladislav Radimov | AM C | Zenith Peterburg | 182 cm | 80 kg | 31 | £1.5M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S6 | | Igor Semshov | AM C | Portsmouth | 170 cm | 67 kg | 28 | £2.1M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AMC | | Yegor Titov | AM C | Spartak Moscow | 186 cm | 84 kg | 30 | £2.4M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | | Alexandr Kerzhakov | ST | Shakhtar | 175 cm | 70 kg | 24 | £4.1M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Vartan Mazalov | ST | CSKA Moscow | 176 cm | 77 kg | 23 | £120K | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | | Dmitry Sychev | ST | Lokomotiv Moscow | 175 cm | 71 kg | 23 | £2.3M | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

18th of March 2007

I had my first league away trip againist strong Brondby. Win was not in my hopes ofcourse. We just wanted to play good with the team and maybe score a goal or two then see what's happen. The bookies said were clear outsiders.

Danish Premier Division, Week 22
Brondby 4:1 NFA (57. Martin Lohse)

I'm happy with the match. We created a lot of chances and should have scored an couple more. We had some players like Martin B. Christensen injuried and that weakned our attacking power. Anyway, we are last, but still 1 point away from dry land.

retired_puly1364

23rd of March 2007

Pre-match conference:

Turkey on position 2 are very far at the moment. Can you catch them?

Yes, if we manage to win every of our game then we'll get through pretty surely. If we will win tomorrow's game then the gap is only 6 points. We meet them in another occasion and there could be another -3 and they will surely lose some more points.

You have some injuries. Are they affecting your game-plan?

No, we've got equal back-ups for every position so there is no problem with injuries and it certainly doesen't affect my tactics.

You have handed Smertin the captain armband. Why that?

Because I know him the most and he is an very important player in our game plan. Also he is one of the best midfielders we've got. The only player who's injury would become problem for us.

Have you decided your line-up yet?

No, I will decide it after tomorrows morning training. There are some players that will certainly play though.

How would you rate Luxembourg team on 10 point scale?

I don't know. I would not want to rate anyone. Ofcourse we are lot better team than them and we're favourites, but I don't know how to rate Luxembourg. There are couple of players I know.

Predict the game result, please!

I think 4:0 win for Russia.

24th of March 2007

I chose a line-up for the match which is consisting of:

Igor Akinfeev
Vadim Yevseev - Sergey Ignashevich - Vasily Berezutskiy - Dmitry Sennikov
Alexeï Smertin
Vladimir Bystrov - Yury Zhirkov
Yegor Titov - Andrey Arshavin
Alexandr Kerzhakov

European Championsship Qualyfying Group-Stage, Game 6
Luxembourg 0:3 Russia (14. Andrey Arshavin, 59., 63. Alexandr Kerzhakov)

Nice win for sure. We totallly dominated ofcourse. No wonder in that though. In other games:

Kazakhstan 0:2 Italy
Macedonia 1:1 Ireland

So those other results are also fine for us. Good day for Russia for sure.

1st of April 2007

Well, I played with the best club in Denmark. Aalborg, who is by a mile leaders in the league. The win from away was surely not predicted by the bookies, neither by me, but we wanted to play as good as we can. We had some key players back from injuries so that helped a bit.

Danish Premier Division, Week 23
AaB 3:1 NFA (68. Basrtosz Zych)

I'm happy with the second half display. We created quite enough chances to draw, but Aalborg created 3x more so they totally deserved their win. We're still only 1 point away from 10th place. We also have one less game.

zipman

Basrtosz Zych

Bartosz? Polski?

Where is from originally?

retired_puly1364

Don't ask me. Probably an immigrant.

retired_puly1364

8th of April 2007

I had an though fight match with Silkeborg. I hoped for a win, but they were much better than me overally.

Danish Premier Division, Week 24
NFA 0:0 Silkeborg

A nice draw. Had some chances to win, but we couldn't use those chances. We're still last in the table, but the gap with a 10th placed fromm is just 1 point.

11th of April 2007

A real relegation dog-fight. A match againist 11th placed SonderjyskE was either win or get relegated. We had to win to get out of the relegation zone.

Danish Premier Division, Week 25
NFA 2:0 SonderjyskE (15. Ronni Jonski, 88. Martin B. Christensen)

An awesome win and we're out of the relegation zone. I'm totally happy with this result and it gave us some hope!

15th of April 2007

We had an though away trip to FC Nordsjaelland on 15th. We were hoping for the best and even bookies gave us good odds to get a result from there!

Danish Premier Division, Week 26
FC Nordsjaelland 0:0 NFA

An nice draw for sure. I was suprised with it. Though, we didn't deserve it much. They totally outplayed us.

22th of April 2007

I had an very important game at home. I had a chance to send Frem to 75% relegation with beating them, but at the same time, securing my own position in the league, which though wasn't very secure.

Danish Premier Division, Week 27
NFA 2:0 Frem (20. Ronni Jonski, 41. Christian Phil Pedersen)

I have a lot of injuries and I had to bring a lot of non first-teamers in and one of them even scored an goal. Anyway, great win! We did good and deserved it.

27th of April - 13th of May 2007

It was a total dissappointment. We ended on 11th position. It was a worst point of my career. With 6 games, I lost 5, let in 20 goals, at the same time scoring only 3. I lost hope after the 29th Week, when we lost to Esbjerg. Anyway, here are the results:

OB 2:1 NFA (81. Martin Lohse)
Esbjerg 3:0 NFA
Viborg 3:0 NFA
NFA 0:5 Brondby
NFA 2:2 FC Kobenhavn (5. Soren Frandsen, 13. Martin B. Christensen)
NFA 0:5 FC Midtylland

14th of May 2007

Eesti Päevaleht (Estonian Daily)

retired_hvporter

Keep this up, Tanel. A very enjoyable story. Do you regret leaving Cork though?

retired_puly1364

Actually I do. And it's a bit sad to see them having bad time in the league too.

retired_puly1364

26th of May 2007

I was in Moscow very early. I wanted to buy a department there. I was planning to live in Moscow for some periods in a year. To meet with some players, watch some good football and get some new friends maybe. It was a warm day and we met with an seller and his lawyer in "Red Square". There we talked some business things there with a glass of beer. A pure classic. Mr. Mutko was also with me there as he said Russian FA will pay for the department. So the guy named Volodja offered me an 4 different departments. I wasn't looking for anything very luxury, but a something nice and comfortable and big enough so I could get my kids and wife there, once I decide to end up one night relationships which I am planning. In the end, we were considering between two options. 3-room department just few miles away from the training-ground and a nice department near the Kremlin. I decided to pick the last one, since it had a bit more room and I really liked the view I got from there - I could see the Alexander garden's and also Kremlin. It cost FA a big money, but they said I get the department forever to myself when I take Russia to EC. And that's what I intend to do. The paperwork was almost done, just had to give my signature and then went to shop buy some furniture for the department. I'll move in within few days.

29th of May 2007

I had basically done all the basic stuff for my new department and then I decided who will come to the WC games againist Macedonia and Ireland.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pkd | Inf | Name | Position | Club | Height | Weight | Age | Value | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | GK | | Igor Akinfeev | GK | CSKA Moscow | 185 cm | 81 kg | 21 | £4.6M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S2 | Yel | Vyacheslav Malafeev | GK | Zenith Peterburg | 185 cm | 83 kg | 28 | £1.7M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Sergey Ignashevich | SW, D RC | CSKA Moscow | 186 cm | 82 kg | 27 | £1.5M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DC | | Vasily Berezutskiy | D RC | CSKA Moscow | 189 cm | 83 kg | 24 | £1.7M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DR | Yel | Vadim Yevseev | D RL | Lokomotiv Moscow | 180 cm | 80 kg | 31 | £975K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Alexey Berezutskiy | D LC | CSKA Moscow | 190 cm | 82 kg | 24 | £1.9M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DL | | Dmitry Sennikov | D LC | Lokomotiv Moscow | 183 cm | 76 kg | 30 | £750K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S3 | | Gennady Nizhegorodov | D C | Dinamo Moscow | 181 cm | 77 kg | 29 | £575K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S4 | | Eugeny Aldonin | DM | Brescia | 179 cm | 72 kg | 27 | £2.1M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | DMC | Yel | Alexeï Smertin | DM | Man Utd | 174 cm | 70 kg | 32 | £2.5M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | MR | | Vladimir Bystrov | AM R | Spartak Moscow | 173 cm | 69 kg | 23 | £2.4M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Yel | Rolan Gusev | AM R | CSKA Moscow | 180 cm | 75 kg | 29 | £1.7M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Ret | Sergey Semak | AM RLC | Paris | 178 cm | 73 kg | 31 | £120K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AMC | Wnt | Andrey Arshavin | AM RC, F C | Shakhtar | 172 cm | 68 kg | 25 | £4.5M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S1 | | Anatoly Gerk | AM RC, F C | CSKA Moscow | 179 cm | 76 kg | 22 | £2.6M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Marat Izmailov | AM LC | Lokomotiv Moscow | 169 cm | 68 kg | 24 | £700K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S7 | | Andrey Karyaka | AM LC | Benfica | 180 cm | 74 kg | 29 | £1.6M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | ML | Yel | Yury Zhirkov | AM L | CSKA Moscow | 178 cm | 72 kg | 23 | £3.8M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Yel | Dinijar Bilyaletdinov | AM C | Lokomotiv Moscow | 179 cm | 73 kg | 22 | £2.2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Yel | Dmitry Los'kov | AM C | Lokomotiv Moscow | 175 cm | 74 kg | 33 | £600K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | | Vladislav Radimov | AM C | Zenith Peterburg | 182 cm | 80 kg | 31 | £1.3M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S6 | | Igor Semshov | AM C | Portsmouth | 170 cm | 67 kg | 29 | £1.6M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | AMC | | Yegor Titov | AM C | Spartak Moscow | 186 cm | 84 kg | 30 | £2.2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | FC | Wnt | Alexandr Kerzhakov | ST | Shakhtar | 175 cm | 70 kg | 24 | £4.2M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | - | Wnt | Vartan Mazalov | ST | CSKA Moscow | 176 cm | 77 kg | 23 | £130K | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | S5 | | Dmitry Sychev | ST | Lokomotiv Moscow | 175 cm | 71 kg | 23 | £2.3M | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre>

1st of June 2007

Press Conference (in FYR Macedonia, Skopje):

The gap with Turkey is just 6 points. Are Russia good enough to catch them?

This is not the first time when people have asked me that! (Laughs) I've always said we can catch them and what I see in the training ground is absolutely wonderful!

You've had an rough time with your professional clubs lately. As you have resigned on both occasions, what's the problem?

Sorry, but we are here to discuss Russian national team. Next please.

Who do you think will be the Russian key player on the pitch tomorrow?

It can't be anyone else rather than Alexandr Kerzhakov. We are always hoping for him to score and he is absolutely great player. Once he starts the show, it could run all day long.

And what about Macedonia's key player?

I think Goran Pandev will become an big threat. He was a player of my favourite team once. Internazionale. He is an very good and promising player. Macedonias should be proud of having a player of his calibre. He's definately a man to stop.

The weather promises slight rain for tomorrow. Is that an problem to Russia, since there are a lot of technical player under your guide?

That's the same problem for Macedonia and the slight rain or dry day - there aren't much difference when team is in form.

Thank you, I must leave now. Let Smertin take it over.

2nd of June 2007

The weather was try in Skopje luckily. 22 degrees was an plus to our side, but Macedonia is pretty good technical team too. The Gradski stadium seemed almost full.

European Championship Qualifying, Game 7
FYR Macedonia 0:2 Russia (40. Alexandr Kerzhakov, 70. Andrey Arshavin)

RUSSIA Akinfeev; Yevseev, Ignashevich, V. Berezutskiy, A. Berezutskiy; Smertin; Bystrov (70. Karyaka), Zhirkov; Titov (70. Izmailov), Arshavin; Kerzhakov

A nice refereeing job from Kim Milton Nielsen, a nice weather - it was an nice match for us. Kerzhakov again on scoresheet. We didn't give them basically no chance. Defence did an magical job, midfield was great also and so was attacking line. The other results were awesome for us! Kazakhstan drew 1:1 with Turkey, Italy won 4:0 againist Luxembourg.

5th of June 2007

Press Conference (in Russia, Moscow):

You played amazing game againist Macedonia and now Russia is just 4 points away from Turkey. Will you continue the way you have started?

Yes, we will give our best. As I've said many times before. The aura at Russia campus is just wonderful and they feel happy to play and I can finally joy managing again.

You have bought an department in Moscow. Have you got any plans with the city? Like taking over some club?

What doesen't media find out. No, it's just that I want to be here in some weeks periods when it's summer or I just want to come away from Estonia. Though, I have no plans of permanently moving here. I take that more like an summer house.

You have Smertin banned and only 4 defenders to choose starts from. Is that a problem?

Injuries and bans are always a problem, but I think our current defenders can get through the game without no injuries and also Eugeny Aldonin is good enough cover to Smertin.

While Turkey is playing with Luxembourg at home, it is highly unlikely that they will lose some ground on the race. Do you have a phone-man in Turkey to let you know about the scores?

Yes, we do have an local Russian to tell us the result from Istanbul and I hope Luxembourg can come up with a suprise.

But as Russia is playing with Ireland tomorrow, it sure has a lot of great memories for you. Can they affect tomorrows game?

They will certainly not affect the game. Ofcourse I've got some awesome experience from Ireland which I will never forget, but I have to move on and not think about those times that much anymore. I know the Irish FA president and he's my friend, but since there is no Cork players in their squad - I won't do any favours to Ireland.

To talk about Ireland key players is pointless, but who are you most afraid of?

I'm very aware of their wingers. Reid and Duff. They can do a lot of harm when we give them space. We have watched the tapes though and our defenders shouldn't have problem marking that style they play.

6th of June 2007

So an packed up Lokomotiv stadium was an great to support us in that important game. It was nice day for football with 14 degrees outside. I played with the most usual line-up I could. The match was refereed by Italian Stefano Farina.

European Championship Qualifying, Game 8
Russia 3:1 Ireland (20., 45. Alexandr Kerzhakov, 83. pen. Vasily Berezutskiy - 60. Stephen Elliot)

RUSSIA Akinfeev; Yevseev, Ignashevich, V. Berezutskiy, A. Berezutskiy; Aldonin; Gerk, Zhirkov (56. Izmailov); Titov, Arshavin (56. Sychev); Kerzhakov

An awesome first half display was good enough to give us a win. Ireland woke up in the second half and gave us a little scare in 60th minute, but after that, we started to dominate again and it paid off finally. I'm really satisfied with a win because we are now just 2 points off Turkey. Suprisingly, they drew with Luxembourg 0:0, while Italy won againist Macedonia.

Here's a thing I owe you guys, the winners of the leagues:

Denmark: 1. AaB, 2. Brondby, 3. OB, 4. Esbjerg
Champions League: 1. Bayern, 2. Chelsea
Uefa Cup: 1. Liverpool, 2. Shakhtar
England: 1. Manchester United, 2. Arsenal, 3. Chelsea, 4. Liverpool
Italy: 1. AC Milan, 2. Inter, 3. Juventus, 4. Sampdoria
Spain: 1. Barcelona, 2. Deportivo, 3. Sevilla, 4. Valencia
France: 1. PSG, 2. Monaco, 3. Marseille, 4. Lyon
France II: 1. Toulouse, 2. Reims, 3. Lorient
Holland: 1. Feyenoord, 2. PSV, 3. Ajax, 4. Sparta

BobbyK

Very nice story you got here, KUTGW. Ireland for qualification