Stress about Euro 2012 caused the severe illness that forced right-back Roman Shishkin out of Russia’s squad, the president of Shishkin’s club Lokomotiv Moscow told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
Shishkin was ruled out of the squad after being hospitalized with an infection of the digestive tract, which caused him to lose weight and suffer a suspected inflammation of his stomach lining.
“Stress has struck unexpectedly, and we’re very sorry about that,” Lokomotiv president Olga Smorodskaya said.
“I think this is a consequence of emotions. After all, the European Championship is a very important competition. Even positive emotions can influence us in a completely unexpected place.”
Shishkin is happy in his personal life, Smorodskaya added.
Shishkin was widely expected to cover for first-choice right-back Alexander Anyukov and his departure leaves Russia with only one other player specializing in the position, Rubin Kazan's 35-year-old Roman Sharonov, who last played for the national team in 2004.
Shishkin, 25, has eight caps for Russia and was first called up in 2007 by Advocaat’s predecessor Guus Hiddink for a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Estonia, although he did not play for Russia again for another three years.
