Pavel Pogrebnyak, the former forward from Fulham has been asked to pay a fine by the Russian Football Union of an amount of 250,000 rubles after he suggested that Russia should not be represented by black players. Pavel Pogrebnyak has played for Reading, as well as Fulham during his 3 years England stay. He gave an interview where he raised the question as to why Ari, the striker with Brazilian roots had been given a passport of Russia.
According to reports from England, Cardiff city tried to sign Russian star Artem Dzyuba on transfer deadline day. The Blue Birds had signed Emiliano Sala from Rennes for a record fee of £15 million but lost the Argentine after his plane went missing last week.
The 2 disgraced footballers named Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Manav are going to spend 2 months more in jail after a court of Moscow extended their punishment for the offense of assault. The news agencies reported the judgment given by Judge Alexei Krivoruchko who said that “The court has deliberated and has granted the request made by investigators to extend the imprisonment until 8th February 2019.”
FIFA council members have stated that the different stadiums where the 2018 World Cup was held in Moscow this year, across 11 cities, have been the best in the history of the association and its matches. This was confirmed by Alexei Sorokin who is a member of FIFA Council as was told to TASS.
Russia’s Akenfeev, who is also a goalkeeper for CSKA Moscow FC, announced on October 1 his decision to withdraw from playing for the national team. The Russian national football team boasts a strong line-up of goalkeepers to replace Igor Akenfeev, who decided to pack up with his national career team earlier this month, chief executive Stanislav Cherchesov said Monday. Russia’s Akenfeev, who is also a goalkeeper for CSKA Moscow FC, announced on October 1 his decision to withdraw from playing for the national team. He started playing for the national team on April 28, 2004, in a friendly match against Norway, becoming the youngest player to debut at the national team at the age of 18 years and 20 days.
Former Arsenal and Russia national team star Andrei Arshavin is set to get a one year extension at Kazakhstan side FK Kairat Almaty, as per reports. The Russian who turned 37 years old in May was set to exit the club when his deal ran out in December 2018. However reports have it that he would get a final extension as he prepares for life outside the pitch.
Former Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello has claimed that he will step down from his role if he does not get the proper support from Russia’s football Federation. After leaving his post as the England national team boss, Capello took up his second international job as the manager of Russia. Like the England national team, he has not enjoyed major success with Russia. His dismal record at World Cup continued after managing just one victory in six matches so far. This has led to Russia being knocked out of the World Cup 2014 at the group stages and raising a lot of questions about Capello’s future.
Due to his astronomical salary of £ 6 million per season, Capello is being put under enormous pressure by the Russian FA in order to deliver the results. Ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Russia will be expected to win their first few matches. The team starts with a friendly against Azerbaijan in the first week of September before taking on Liechtenstein on September 8. Russia are expected to comfortably win this match, but the real test starts from October when they take on the likes of Sweden and Moldova before Austria in November.
Capello has warned the Russian football Federation that he will have no doubts about quitting if he is continued to be not supported properly. Capello is no stranger to quitting the job, as he left the England job citing similar reasons just before the Euro 2012. “When we went to the World Cup, everyone was happy. Football hinges on moments. The ball – is it in the net or not? I work with enthusiasm. If I see support from those around me … If that belief stops, don’t worry, I will quit,” said Capello, who is Russia will host the next World Cup.
Swiss national team boss Ottmar Hitzfeld has announced that his job as a manager is over. Hitzfeld is regarded as one of the top coaches in the world. He has been in charge of several great teams like Bayern Munich and Real Madrid over the years. After his long career with clubs, Hitzfeld has been managing national teams like Switzerland in the last few years. He has been relatively successful at international level as well. Recently, he almost got Switzerland into the semi-finals of the World Cup, which would have been a major achievement.
They managed to keep out little Messi and Angel di Maria for much of the 119 minutes and it was only in the final minute of extra time that they scored to send Argentina into the semi-finals. Even though Switzerland now leave the competition, they can do so with their head held high because of the turnaround in fortunes. Hitzfeld was shocked to see his Switzerland team all over the place in the 5-2 defeat against France. Since then, they have recovered quite well and it is a mark of the manager.
Hitzfeld will now be working as a television pundit. He commands the respect of top managers like Sir Alex Ferguson. He won the Champions League with two different teams. “My job as a coach has finished. I’m proud of my career. I don’t lose when I work on TV. I’ve had some marvellous teams. Every moment in football sticks in your memory. It’s been a great honour and I have a heart full of emotion,” said Hitzfeld. Switzerland will now start their search for a new manager and they will hope to appoint him before the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying. Switzerland are in the same group along with England, Slovenia, and Estonia.
Stoke city goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has said that his club teammate Peter Crouch should be recalled by the England national team ahead of the World Cup 2014. Crouch is one of the few strikers, who has an imperious record for the national team. He has scored a goal every other game, but it has not exactly endeared himself to the managers who have taken over the national team. He has been consistently overlooked in recent years, but the Stoke striker has not been concerned about the lack of a call up to the national team.
The arrival of Mark Hughes has the manager signalled a change in the era for Stoke. They were expected to play a much more attractive brand of football, which would even get the best out of Crouch since the tall striker is also adept at playing on the ground. Crouch has been one of the ever present players for Stoke this season. He have scored only seven goals in 29 league matches for the club, but his overall style of play helps the club sustain their position in the league.
The 33-year-old is coming to the end of his career, and if selected, the World Cup could be his last major tournament. He has 22 goals in 42 appearances for the national team.
“I can’t recommend Peter Crouch highly enough. I’ve played with him for a few years at Stoke, and before that at Portsmouth. He offers you something different. There are not many strikers like him around the world, it will be very difficult for defences to handle him. His goal record speaks for itself, especially at international level. He can make a big difference,” said Begovic, who himself has been linked with a move away from the club after a string of excellent performances.
UEFA recently conducted the draw for the Euro 2016 qualifying stages. Russia, who recently were elated after qualifying for the World Cup 2014, have been drawn alongside top teams like Sweden and Montenegro. Fabio Capello has commented about the draw by saying that these are tough matches, but he expects Russia to qualify for the Euro 2016. The nation failed to appear at the Euro 2012 after doing very poorly in the qualification stages. The arrival of Capello has once again booster the national team, who have been looking as one of the favourites to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Russia will be coming up against Sweden, who were the joint favourites to win the group. This is primarily due to the presence of PSG striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is regarded as the best in the world right now. Capello has stated that he is someone who knows most of the top group opponents. This is largely due to the managerial experience he has got from being the manager of England in his former role. Capello has come up against Montenegro, while Sweden are also a familiar opponent. The Italian, though, has stated that Austria is something of an unknown quantity since he has come up against those Europeans very little.
“The group is a tough one. We have Sweden who I know well and Montenegro who I know even better having come up against them with England. I don’t know much about Austria, but they’re all teams who came close to reaching the World Cup. I have respect for all our opponents and there will be lots of difficult matches. Sweden are a team that nobody wanted in their group. Now we have to play against a team with a player I know very well – Zlatan Ibrahimović,” said Capello.