MOSCOW, March 15 Head coach of the Russian national football team Valery Karpin said that striker of St. Petersburg “Zenith” Artem Dziuba asked not to call him to the training camp because of the situation in Ukraine, where his relatives live. The words of the coach are given in the telegram channel of the Russian national team. The gathering will be held in Moscow from March 21 to 27. Dziuba does not appear in the list of called players.
"We really met with Artem at the end of the pre-season training camp of "Zenith", but, of course, there were no promises for a mandatory call. This applies not only to Dziuba, but to all players. On Sunday, we talked with Artem by phone, he assured that, as he said at the meeting, he really wants to play for the national team. But now, due to the difficult situation in Ukraine, where he has many relatives, he apologized and asked for family reasons not to call him to this gathering. We agreed that we will stay in touch with him and will follow his performances for "Zenith", said Karpin.
In addition, Zenit defender Vyacheslav Karavaev was not called to the training camp.
"Vyacheslav does not yet feel sufficiently prepared and asked to give him time to get in shape. As in the case of Dzyuba, the coaching staff of the national team went to meet Karavaev", the mentor of the national team explained.
Dzyuba last played for the Russian national team at Euro 2020, where he scored one of the team's two goals in the tournament. Then the striker was not called up to the national team, either on his own initiative or by decision of the coaching staff.