As international friendlies have fans entertained all around the world, the World Cup hosts prepare to face one of the tournament’s presumed favorites in St. Petersburg.
Next time Stanislav Cherchesov’s men get together after the France test will be right before the tournament, so this tune-up is an important step in the preparation.
Russia just went down to Brazil 3-0 last Friday, and with an attack spearheaded by the threesome of Antoine Griezman, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba, the defense will be once again challenged to the extreme.
With CSKA and Spartak defenders Viktor Vasin and Georgi Dzhikiya out with injuries as well as Zenit’s forward Alexander Kokorin, Russia will likely once again depend on Fyodor Smolov up front.
Smolov will be team captain for the fixture in the absence of veteran goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev, who was given a day off. He will be replaced by Zenit’s Andrey Lunev in the goal.
Both teams will be wearing black armbands to honor the victims of the Kemerovo tragedy.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
