Russia unveil 23 man Euro 2016 squad

Schalke defender Roman Neustadter, who has yet to receive Russian citizenship, has been included in Russia’s 23-man EURO 2016 squad announced by Head Coach Leonid Slutskiy.

The 28-year-old has been living in Germany since his youth and has played for Germany’s underage setup but is expected to receive his Russian passport in the coming days to be eligible to play for Russia in France this June.

Slutskiy has not included two of Russia’s most experienced players however, with Zenit St Petersburg defender Yuri Zkirkov and their all-time leading scorer Alexander Kerzhakov both missing out.

There is room in the squad though for 19-year-old CSKA Moscow midfielder Aleksandr Golovin who has scored two goals in just three appearances for the Russians.

Russia will be hoping Zenit St Petersburg striker Artem Dzyuba will be able to bring his form from the qualifying campaign into the tournament. The 27-year-old was the top scorer in Group G with 8 goals.

Russia are in Group B of EURO 2016 where they will have an opening fixture with England in Marseille, before a trip to Lille to face Slovakia and a final group game with Wales in Toulouse.

Russia squad for UEFA EURO 2016

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeev (CSKA Moskva), Yuri Lodygin (Zenit), Guilherme (Lokomotiv Moskva).

Defenders: Aleksei Berezutski (CSKA Moskva), Vasili Berezutski (CSKA Moskva), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moskva), Dmitri Kombarov (Spartak Moskva), Roman Neustädter (Schalke), Georgi Schennikov (CSKA Moskva), Roman Shishkin (Lokomotiv Moskva), Igor Smolnikov (Zenit).

Midfielders: Igor Denisov (Zenit), Dmitry Torbinsky (FC Krasnodar), Aleksandr Golovin (CSKA Moskva), Denis Glushakov (Spartak Moskva), Oleg Ivanov (Terek Grozny), Pavel Mamaev (Krasnodar), Aleksandr Samedov (Lokomotiv Moskva), Oleg Shatov (Zenit), Roman Shirokov (CSKA Moskva).

Strikers: Artem Dzyuba (Zenit), Aleksandr Kokorin (Zenit), Fedor Smolov (Krasnodar)