Moscow, Jun 4 (IANS): Villarreal winger Denis Cheryshev has made the Russian football team's 23-man roster for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
Cheryshev played for half an hour during Russia's 1-0 defeat against Austria in their most recent friendly match on May 30, apparently convincing coach Stanislav Cherchesov he was ready for the big tournament, reports Efe.
"I would like to thank everyone who made this possible. We will fight for the country. With God!" Cheryshev posted on Instagram, who issued the roster on Sunday.
After a two-year absence, Cheryshev had been called up in Mar. for friendlies against Brazil and France, and got playing time against Les Blues.
Cheryshev, 27, will be able to fulfill the dream that his father Dmitri - a former Real Gijon player - was unable to achieve, as he did not take part in a major tournament with Russia despite playing 10 international games.
Russia's former coach, Fabio Capello of Italy, gave Cheryshev the opportunity to make his debut with the national team in 2012, when he was a Real Madrid player.
However, a lack of consistency resulting from repeated injuries made Russia's coach exclude him from the 2014 World Cup roster as well as the 2016 Euro squad and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Out of the provisional 28-man squad, Cherchesov left out goalkeeper Soslan Dzhanayev, defenders Roman Neustadter and Konstantin Rausch, midfielder Aleksandr Tashayev and forward Fyodor Chalov.
Russia, the host, is to play in Group A, alongside Uruguay, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The Russia squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Gabulov (Brugge), Andrei Lunyov (Zenit St. Petersburg).
Defenders: Mario Fernandes, Sergei Ignashevich (both CSKA Moscow), Vladimir Granat, Fyodor Kudryashov (both Rubin Kazan), Ilya Kutepov (Spartak Moscow), Andrei Semyonov (Akhmat Grozny), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit St. Petersburg).
Midfielders: Denis Cheryshev (Villarreal), Alan Dzagoev, Alexander Golovin (both CSKA Moscow), Yuri Gazinsky (FC Krasnodar), Daler Kuzyaev, Alexander Yerokhin, Yuri Zhirkov (all Zenit St. Petersburg), Anton Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Alexander Samedov, Roman Zobnin (both Spartak Moscow).
Forwards: Artyom Dzyuba (Arsenal Tula), Alexey Miranchuk (Lokomotiv Moscow), Fyodor Smolov (FC Krasnodar).