Akinfeev to have his chance ahead of Euro 2012

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Published time: May 29, 2012 10:37
Edited time: May 29, 2012 14:37

Russia are preparing for Tuesday's friendly against Lithuania in Switzerland as head coach Dick Advocaat has plenty of choices to make come game time.

Russian media reports that the number one position will be given to CSKA Moscow keeper Igor Akinfeev, who missed most of last season due to injury, relinquishing his place in the national team to Zenit's Vyacheslav Malafeev.

Though, the Dutch specialist's top choice goalie for Euro 2012 will be decided right before the beginning of the tournament.

The starting line-up will most likely resemble that of last week when Russia played a friendly against Uruguay, meaning Andrey Arshavin and Aleksandr Kerzhakov starting up front.

Guarding the defensive line will be Aleksandr Aniukov, Sergey Ignashevic and Aleksey Berezutsky, while the most possible candidate to occupy left-back position is Spartak Moscow’s only call-up Dmitry Kombarov. The 25-year-old is believed to substitute Anzhi’s Yury Zhirkov in the starting line-up.

Meanwhile, Fernando Santos, head coach of Russia’s Euro 2012 group stage opponents Greece, has dropped midfielders Alexandros Tziolis and Panagiotis Kone from his final 23-player squad.

Santos announced the move after both players had competed in a warm-up game against Slovenia on Saturday. The match held near Greece's pre-tournament training camp in Kufstein, Austria, ended in a 1-1 draw.

Kone, who plays for Bologna, had been widely expected to be cut after he hit a Slovenia player during injury time and was sent off.

“We've had problems developing our attacks. We need to keep possession more and be patient,” Santos said after Saturday's match. "What happened with Kone is a shame. Sometimes in the heat of the match we lose our minds.”

The final Greek squad now looks as follows:

Goalkeepers:Costas Chalkias (PAOK), Michalis Sifakis (Aris), Alexandros Tzorvas (Palermo).

Defenders: Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiakos), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Werder Bremen), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Jose Holebas (Olympiakos), Stelios Malezas (PAOK), Giorgos Tzavelas (Monaco), Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Schalke).

Midfielders:Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Costas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos), Giorgos Fotakis (PAOK), Costas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern),  Yiannis Fetfatzidis (Olympiakos), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Grigoris Makos (AEK Athens).

Forwards:Georgios Samaras (Celtic), Dimitris Salpigidis (PAOK), Costas Mitroglou (Atromitos), Nikos Lymberopoulos (AEK Athens), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor).

Greece plays Armenia in a friendly on Thursday before heading to Poland.