Football: New Russia Coach Shakes Up Squad Amid World Cup Worries

MOSCOW,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -30th Augst,2016) : New Russia boss Stanislav Cherchesov has made wholesale changes for his first game in charge against Turkey as he bids to revive a demoralised squad to host the World Cup in less than two years. Only eight of the 23-man squad that crashed out of Euro 2016 have been retained for the friendly against Turkey in Antalya on Wednesday.

The match partly aims to ease political tensions between the countries. Russia also play Ghana in Moscow on September 6. Former international goalkeeper Cherchesov replaced Leonid Slutsky after the flop in France with the mammoth task of turning around the squad for the World Cup campaign.

Among the new faces are Rostov goalie Soslan Dzhanayev, left-back Fedor Kudryashov and midfielder Yury Gazinsky of Krasnodar. Cherchesov also invited CSKA Moscow's Brazilian right-back Mario Fernandes, who recently acquired Russian citizenship but is not yet eligible to play for the country, along to training.

"We need to create the right chemistry to make the players feel pleasure when they join the national side," Cherchesov told the press after his appointment.