The former goalkeeper of the Russian national team and Lokomotiv, Ruslan Nigmatullin, defended the decision to omit Artem Dziuba from the extended national squad list.
“And so a match is over and the player is called up to the team immediately? That is the first point. Secondly, no coach around the world invites a player who does not show him respect. When a player does not respect the coach, he withers inside and becomes a danger to the squad because he loses respect for the mentor. What he tossed in the last game was acknowledged, but the bridges were burned long before that,” Nigmatullin remarked to Match TV.
Valery Karpin added five forwards to the expanded roster: Fedor Chalov from CSKA, Alexander Sobolev from Spartak, Vladimir Pisarsky from Krylya Sovetov, Konstantin Tyukavin from Dynamo, and Nikolai Komlichenko from Rostov.
On February 8, the forward signed a contract with Lokomotiv through the end of the season. On March 4, Lokomotiv won 3-1 away against Rostov, and Artem Dzyuba contributed a hat-trick for the Moscow club. Those goals marked the striker’s first notable scoring run since joining the Lokomotiv squad.
The Russian national team is scheduled to convene in Moscow on March 19 for preparation and selection discussions.
Earlier, Rinat Dasaev stated that Matvey Safonov would not be called up to the Russian national team at this time.