Manager Guus Hiddink had a surprise up his sleeves when he called up Aleksandr Kerzhakov of Dynamo Moscow (pictured), Vladimir Bystrov (Spartak Moscow), and even Evgeni Aldonin (CSKA Moscow) and Pavel Mamaev (CSKA Moscow) for the Russian team’s preparation before the World Cup qualifier against Finland.
Kerzhakov is the only one of the four players currently in the FTBL Top 23 for the Russian Premier League.
He has a rating of 65.80 points and will have a plank of 14.63 rating points to beat against Finland. He set the plank with his recent lone goal against Rostov in the Russian league.
Aldonin, whose last played for the national team in February 2007, is currently among the best rated Russian players with a little over 55 points over all. Bystrov, who has been slowly returning to form after last year’s miserable season, has yet to earn enough points for a spot in the ratings: he has 40 points over all. Mamaev, who is being called for the fist time into the Russian team, has 31.47 points over all.
© FTBL