Russia's old guard pay the penalty

Three of Russia's old guard - Alexander Mostovoi, Viktor Onopko and Valery Karpin - are among those sacrificed for fresher faces as coach Valeri Gazzaev looks to youth to steer the country to the 2004 UEFA European Championship.

Change called for
The Russian media called for change following the national team's failure to negotiate the first hurdle at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Gazzaev, who succeeded Oleg Romantsev as coach last month, has responded by dropping Russia's three Spanish-based veterans - Onopko of Real Oviedo and RC Celta de Vigo duo Mostovoi and Karpin - in addition to five other players who travelled to Korea/Japan

Ireland first
Gazzaev has named a provisional squad of 59 players, featuring 15 from PFC CSKA Moscow, the club he coaches in domestic football, which will be trimmed down ahead of Russia's opening EURO 2004™ qualifying fixture against the Republic of Ireland in Moscow on 7 September.

Foreign-based players
Only three players who ply their trade outside the Russian top flight have been selected - Alexey Smertin of FC Girondins de Bordeaux, Real Sociedad's Dmitri Khokhlov and Vladimir But who plays for SC Freiburg - and Gazzaev has also named former players Alexander Borodyuk and Andrey Chernyshov as his assistants. Chernyshov will also take sole charge of Russia's Under-21 side.

Provisional Russia squad
Ovchinnikov, Nigmatullin, Chichkin, Mandrykin, Malafeev, Gabulov, Ignashevitch, Dayev, Romanov, Mikadze, Nizhegorodov, Sennikov, D N Smirnov, Vasiljev, Evsikov, Olenikov, V Berezutsky, A Berezutsky, Igonin, Kolodin, Kovtun, Kuzmin, Smertin, Khokhlov, Aldonin, Kusov, Gusev, Arshavin, Bober, Tlisov, Solomatin, Laktionov, Trifonov, Kariaka, But, Titov, Izmailov, D Bazaev, D A Smirnov, Dyatelj, Semshov, Yanovskiy, Loskov, Krivov, Triputenj, Kudrjashov, Beschastnykh, Kerzhakov, Sytchev, Semak, Popov, Pimenov, Gogniev, Pavlyuchenko, Budunov, Kirichenko, Piyuk, Danishevskiy