MOSCOW, November 12 (R-Sport) Ex-Everton midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Zenit St. Petersburg midfielder Viktor Faizulin are injured and out of the Russia side to face the United States in a friendly Wednesday, the Russian FA said Monday.
Their absences take the number of missing players to three after Lokomotiv Moscow midfielder Alexander Samedov strained ankle ligaments in his team’s 1-1 draw with Anzhi Makhachkala on Sunday.
Russia have not called up replacements, leaving 23 players in the side.
The FA said in a website statement that Faizulin had “minor problems with his knee joint”, while Bilyaletdinov has “damage to muscles in the groin area.” Neither played in their clubs’ league games Sunday.
Faizulin has played in all of Russia's five games since Fabio Capello was made coach in July, scoring twice, while Samedov has made four appearances in that time and Bilyaletdinov has not added to his 46 caps, but has been a squad regular under Capello.
"It's a shame that I'll miss the friendly because I could have shown myself off to the coaching staff," Bilyaletdinov told R-Sport, adding that "drastic measures" could be needed to treat his injury.
The departures could potentially open the door to debuts for uncapped midfielders Magomed Ozdoev of Lokomotiv and Denis Cheryshev of Real Madrid, although they will have to fight for places with six other fit midfielders still in the side.
Russia are to play the U.S. in the southern city of Krasnodar.
