Russia coach Dick Advocaat has all but decided on his first team for Euro 2012, with eight or nine players certain to start because of their performances at the qualifying stage, he said Thursday.
Russia topped their qualification group for Euro 2012, with strong performances from established names such as former Tottenham Hotspur forward Roman Pavlyuchenko and Fulham’s Pavel Pogrebnyak.
“Eight, nine players, we know they’re going to start, because they did well in the qualification games. One, two positions, we have some doubts,” Advocaat said at a news conference before Russia takes on Uruguay in a warm-up game Friday.
Some younger players in Advocaat’s 26-man preliminary squad had trained well and could challenge for a first-team spot, he added.
Russia will face the Czech Republic, joint hosts Poland, and Greece in the group stage of Euro 2012, which will take place in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 through July 1.
