Anzor Kavazashvili, the former USSR national team goalkeeper and Spartak veteran, criticized Valery Karpin’s choice to bring midfielders Alexei Miranchuk from Torino and Alexander Golovin from Monaco into the national squad.
“I spoke up at once: they would not be motivated. What we are seeing right now isn’t a pretty sight. This situation could have been avoided if Golovin and Miranchuk had not been included in the final roster. I don’t understand Karpin’s decision. It’s on him.”
With hostility toward Russia now at high levels across Europe, public perception would sour when players step onto the field against the national team. Kavazashvili warned that the move could cast a shadow over the players’ futures. He attributed the decision to Golovin and Miranchuk as unfounded and counterproductive, quoting bookmakers who labeled the call as “nonsense.”
It is noted that Miranchuk and Golovin did not feature for the Russian national team in 2022. During that period, Karpin experimented with a younger pool of players, frequently reshuffling the roster to test different combinations.
Earlier in 2022, FIFA and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made the decision to suspend Russia from all competitions overseen by the two bodies, affecting both the national team and Russian clubs.
The former Russian representative Golovin responded to the accusations that he was unwilling to join the national team, offering his perspective on the situation and the decisions behind it.