Non Domestic Russians who could make the 2018 Russian World Cup squad

There are currently around 200 Russian footballers aged 24 or under who don’t play in their home country. Aside from a couple based in Uzbekistan, these are all smattered around Europe. Some play in the top division of the country they are based, and some are at amateur level, and other than Portugal, where there are at least 16 players, these appear to be relatively spread out.

Out Russians are based in countries ranging from the very smallest of nations in Europe, such as Gibraltar (Kirill Trofimenko), to home shores here in the UK with Hamilton Academicals (Victor Gutsul), all the way up to the biggest club in the world with Real Madrid’s Denis Cheryshev. The following are a list of domestic top flight leagues where a Russian has played this season:

• La Liga (Spain)
• Liga NOS (Portugal)
• tipp3-Bundesliga (Austria)
• Alka Superligaen (Denmark)
• SuperLiga (Serbia)
• Synot Liga (Czech Republic)
• 1.HNL (Croatia)
• Bardsragujn Chumb (Armenia)
• Premium Liiga (Estonia)
• Topaz Premyer Liqası (Azerbaijan)
• Vysshaya Liga (Belarus)
• Umaglesi Liga (Georgia)
• Virsliga (Latvia)
• A Lyga (Lithuania)
• Divizia Natională (Moldova)
• Gibraltar Premier Division (Gibraltar)

To see Russians playing at a decent level not just in Russia, but all over Europe is a promising thing for any Russian football fan.So while the Russian national team currently is built mainly from Russian based players, we are taking a look at the players who do play abroad, to assess which, if any, could very well make the step up to the first team in time for Russia’s grand stage in 2018.

1) Denis Cheryshev – Real Madrid
Cheryshev is currently the highest profile Russian to be playing outside his home country. Having worked his way up through the Madrid youth system, he has finally gotten into the first team squad, although not without controversy.

While Cheryshev is already a member of the national team, and almost a dead cert for the national team in 2018, he should certainly be looking to move away from Madrid for regular football, whether that be back in Russia, or to another side in the big leagues.

2) Stanislav Kritsyuk – SC Braga
Kritsyuk is a 25 year old goalkeeper who is currently first choice goalkeeper for Braga in the Portuguese top flight. Having been plucked out of the prestigious Togliatti Academy in 2013, Kritsyuk has worked his way up through the reserve teams and a loan at Rio Ave to get to where he is.

However, the goalkpeer situation for Russia is a tricky nut to crack, with Akinfeev and Lodygin seemingly long term options for Slutskiy’s national team. However the 3rd spot, normally occupied by veteran Sergey Ryzhikov, could be open to newcomers, and he might just have a chance.

3) Vitaliy Lystsov – Benfica
Yet another Russian based in Portugal (there are at least 16 we understand) who could progress into the national team is Vitaliy Lystsov. He moved to União de Leiria as an 18 year old, where now 8 young Russian ply their trade, and after some impressive performances was scooped up by Benfica in July 2015.

Currently playing for Benfica’s B team in the 2nd division, Lystsov almost secured a move to Rubin Kazan in early 2015 but after Rubin had second thoughts, Lystsov moved to Benfica on loan instead. If the young defender can continue to progress as he has, and with Russia’s old guard of Ignashevich and the Berezeutskiy’s likely to have retured by 2018, he could have a very good chance of making the squad.

4) Dzhamaldin Khodzhaniyazov – AGF Aarhus
Another product of the Togliatti Academy, Khodzhaniazyov broke in the Zenit St, Petersburg first team as a spritely 16 year old, and made a good impression at both left back and centre back. However, after a failed loan at Amkar Perm and no sign of getting first team football at Zenit any time soon, he took the brave decision to move abroad and signed for the Danish side.

With 10 U21 caps to his name, and still only 19, regular first team football at a decent level is certainly not a bad thing, and if he should show great signs of improvement, Zenit have first option to sign him back. When the 2018 World Cup comes along he will be 21, almost 22. As previously mentioned with Lystsov, the defence could be open to newcomers at this time, and Khodzhaniyazov will certainly be hoping he can be one of the players to get in there.

5) Arshak Koryan – Vitesse
20 year old winger come forward Koryan is another Russian who, along with Khodzhaniyazov, flew the nest at a young age to go abroad, this time to Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem. After starring for Lokomotiv’s youth side, Koryan had decided to move on when his contract ran down, and had offers from Rubin Kazan and Vitesse. He chose the latter.

Pacy and with an eye for goal, Koryan is yet to make the first team for Vitesse, having to settle for 2nd division reserve football. However if he continues to show the promise he did for Lokomotiv then he could certainly make a late push for the squad, but this will depend solely on whether he can impress the Vitesse staff enough for a first team call up.

6) Andrey Panyukov – AC Ajaccio (on loan from Atlantas)
20 year old Panyukov had always showed promise when he played for Dinamo Moscow, having made his debut at a young age and scoring soon after, he ha da couple of loan spells before going out to Lithuanian side Atlantas on loan. It was here where he finally fulfilled the promise he had shown, scoring 20 goals in 20 appearnces, including two 4 goal hauls and one hat trick.

This kind of goalscoring put his name in the minds of many clubs around Europe, and after ruling out a move back to Russia, he joined French Ligue 2 side Ajaccio on loan. So far for the struggling Corsicans, Panyukov has bagged 4 goals in 14 appearances, a sizeable chunk of their 13 goals managed as a club, and their top goalscorer.

If he can continue playing at a decent level and scoring, and with Russian strikers notoriously lacking in numbers, then he would be really hoping that he could have a chance of making the squad.

Honourable mentions go to Naim Sharifi (Sturm Graz), Dmitry Skopintsev (RB Salzburg), Vadim Bakatin (AS Monaco), Anton Shvets (Villareal) and Erik Braun (FC Midtjylland) who are all options should they progress enough. Bakatin for example is just 16, but France is renowned for its youth development, so with some luck and if he does truly have the talent, even as a 19 year old in 2018, he could be a option.

Only time will tell how true some of these predictions will be, but we will look forward to monitoring the progress of the Russians abroad, and who knows, maybe they will return to their homeland to play some time in the future?

Hulk is the Best Player of Russia in 2015

Zenit St.Petersburg and national team of Brazil forward Hulk is announced as the Best Football Player of Russia in 2015, according to the traditional research of weekly paper Futbol, in which several hundreds of Russian sports journalists take part.

After the voting was over the Brazilian got 652 points. Second position went to Zenit and national team of Russia forward Artem Dzyuba. He got 357 points.

The third position of the top three was for Spartak Moscow midfield Quincy Promes – 135 points.